Sydney/Washington: An Australian State government has declared an emergency due to a Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney.
The New South Wales State government reported one fatality and 136 new infections in the latest 24-hour period, the biggest daily tally of new cases since the outbreak began in mid June.
State Premier Gladys Berejiklian called on the federal government to provide more vaccines for the worst-effected suburbs in Sydney’s west and south.
Sydney has been locked down for a month. The delta variant cluster has spread from Sydney to Victoria and South Australia states which are also locked down. Half Australia’s population of 26 million is currently locked down.
Only 15 per cent of adult Australians are fully vaccinated. While there are ample supplies of locally-manufactured AstraZeneca, many are concerned about the slight risk of blood clots associated with that vaccine and a demanding Pfizer, the only alternative registered in Australia.
Meanwhile, in the United States, vaccinations are beginning to rise in some States where Covid-19 cases are soaring, White House officials said Thursday in a sign that the summer surge is getting the attention of vaccine-hesitant Americans as hospitals in the South are being overrun with patients.
Coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters that several States with the highest proportions of new infections have seen residents get vaccinated at higher rates than the nation as a whole. Officials cited Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada as examples.
The fourth surge is real, and the numbers are quite frightening at the moment, Louisiana Gov John Bel Edwards said on a New Orleans radio show. Edwards, a Democrat, added: There’s no doubt that we are going in the wrong direction, and we’re going there in a hurry.
Louisiana reported 2,843 new Covid-19 cases Thursday, a day after reporting 5,388 the third-highest level since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations are up steeply in the last month, from 242 on June 19 to 913 in the latest report. Fifteen new deaths were reported Thursday.
Just 36 per cent of Louisiana’s population is fully vaccinated, state health department data shows. Nationally, 56.3 per cent of Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Aly Neel, a spokesperson for Louisiana’s health department, said the State has seen a little bump in vaccinations recently, adding that details would be available Friday.
Warner Thomas, president and CEO of the Ochsner Health system serving Louisiana and Mississippi, said the system had seen a 10 per cent to 15 per cent increase in people seeking vaccination over the past week or two. It has administered vaccines at churches, the New Orleans airport, basketball games and the mall.