Covid 19 Cases in Victoria, Australia hit record high

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 14. Daniel Andrews, the governor of Victoria, Australia, announced on the 14th that thanks to the increase in the new crown vaccination rate, the capital Melbourne will relax the epidemic prevention and control measures from next week. On the same day, Victoria notified a record high of new cases of new crowns in a single day, and most of the cases were in Melbourne.

Andrews said at a press conference that day that the speed of vaccination in Victoria is faster than expected and Melbourne will start to “restart” next week. “We will realize the roadmap for a’restart’… Everyone will be vaccinated and we will be able to open up.”

On May 28, in Melbourne, Australia, signs reminding people to wear masks were hung on the rails of the train station. (Posted by Xinhua News Agency, photo by Bai Xue)

The Victorian government previously promised that once the vaccination rate reaches 70%, Victoria will begin to “unblock” gradually. According to original expectations, the Victorian vaccination rate will reach this threshold on the 26th of this month. As of the 14th, 62% of Victorian adults eligible for new crown vaccination have completed the entire vaccination process.

Victoria reported 2297 new confirmed cases of new crown on the 14th, setting a record for the highest number of new cases in a single state in Australia since the outbreak. According to Reuters, Melbourne is now clearly the “epicenter” of the Australian new crown epidemic, and most of the new cases in Victoria on the 14th are in this city. According to the “restart” roadmap, Melbourne will lift the curfew and commercial activities will resume under the premise of strictly maintaining social distancing. Once the vaccination rate reaches 80%, epidemic prevention restrictions will be further relaxed.

Last week in New South Wales, Australia, the vaccination rate for people over the age of 16 exceeded 70%. The capital, Sydney, began to “restart” on the 11th. This weekend, the NSW vaccine coverage rate is expected to exceed 80%, and Sydney may further relax its epidemic prevention restrictions.

Although the vaccination rate in some “zero-case” states in Australia is relatively high, they said they would postpone the “restart”, worrying that the epidemic would cause overcrowding in hospitals. (Lin Shuting)