《TAIPEI TIMES》 New South Wales cases hit year high

/ Reuters, MELBOURNE

Australia’s New South Wales state yesterday reported its biggest daily rise in locally transmitted COVID-19 infections this year, with authorities warning that worse might yet to come for Sydney, which is in a three-week hard lockdown.

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There were 50 new cases of community transmission in the country’s most populous state, up from 44 a day earlier, the previous record high for the year.

This brings the state’s outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 to 489 cases.

Of yesterday’s cases, 26 were people who had spent time in the community while they were infectious, deepening concerns that the lockdown of more than 5 million people in Sydney and its surroundings would be extended.

“When you know that there are 26 cases infectious in the community, the only conclusion we can draw is that things are going to get worse before they get better,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a televised briefing.

“I think it is pretty clear that unless we reduce that level of people in the community that are infectious, we won’t be able to turn things around as quickly as we can or as quickly as we should,” Berejiklian said.

There are 47 cases in hospitals, or about one in 10 people infected in the current outbreak.

Of those, 19 are under the age of 55 and 16 are in intensive care, including a teenager.

No fully vaccinated people have required hospital care and 79 percent of those admitted have not had any doses, health authorities said.

Vaccinations are available in Australia for now only to people older than 40 and those in risk groups either due to their health or work.

The country has fared better than many other developed countries in keeping its COVID-19 numbers relatively low, but its vaccination rollout has been among the slowest due to supply constraints and changing medical advice for its mainstay AstraZeneca vaccines.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES