After months of near-normal, 80% of Australians are back under lockdown, says CNN. The new restrictions have swept across the country, aiming to conta

COVID-19 outbreaks: Australia is back in lockdown. What went wrong?

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2021-07-02 23:30:09

After months of near-normal, 80% of Australians are back under lockdown, says CNN. The new restrictions have swept across the country, aiming to contain recent outbreaks driven by the coronavirus delta variant.

Australia’s defenses against COVID-19 outbreaks seemed impenetrable — border closures, mandatory quarantine hotels, extensive contact tracing and strict social distancing, reports BBC. More transmissible variants exposed the small cracks in these defenses.

Vaccination campaigns in Australia have also lagged. Only 5% of the population is fully vaccinated and 29% of the population is partially vaccinated, says BBC.

Within one week, COVID-19 cases in Australia surged by more than 100 cases, says BBC. Now, the country has 217 active cases with the delta strain driving the outbreak.

Australia has not announced a nationwide lockdown, but an increasing number of cities have reimposed lockdowns for their residents, says CNN. Now, nearly 20 million out of Australia’s population of 25 million people have gone into lockdown again.

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