Australia tightens lockdown amid Delta virus outbreak

After months in which it had nearly stamped out the virus, Australia is battling the variant  in  five  of  its  eight  states  and     territories,  just  two weeks after an infection  in   key  city  Sydney  involving  a  limousine  driver  of  overseas  airline crew.

Worries that   the   variant   first  detected  in  India  could  touch off  outbreaks  have  forced lockdowns in three large cities and curbs of varying  strictness  in     several  more,  affecting  more  than  20  million Australians, or about 80% of the population.

Northern Queensland state imposed  a  three-day  lock-down in capital Brisbane and neighbouring  regions  from  Tuesday  evening.  The  Western    Australian    capital    of    Perth  began  a  four-day  lock-down  from  Tuesday,  joining  Sydney and Darwin.

“The  risk  is  real  and  we  need  to  act  quickly,  we  need  to   go   hard,   we   need   to   go   fast,”   said   Queensland   Premier  Annastacia  Palaszczuk  said.  The  state  reported  two  new local cases.

Sydney,  home  to  a  fifth  of  Australia’s  population,  is  in  a  two-week  lockdown  until  July  9,  while  a  stay-home  order  in  the outback city of Darwin was extended by 72 hours to Friday. The    Sydney    outbreak    has    grown to nearly 150 cases.

Mandatory  masks  and  lim-its  on  gatherings  are  among  the curbs across Australia.

 Australian Deputy Prime Minister  Barnaby  Joyce  has  been  fined A$200 ($151) for failing to wear  a  face  mask  inside  a  petrol station in New South Wales state.  Joyce,  also  the  leader  of  the  National  Party  of  Australia,  confirmed  the  incident  of  breaching coronavirus restrictions.

“I  went  into  the  Caltex  service  station.  I  was  going  to  the  airport,  fuelled  the  car  up  with  fuel,  went  in,  30  seconds  later, A$200 it cost me, because I   didn’t   wear   one   of   these   (masks),” he said on Tuesday.