Australia’s latest virus outbreak is creating an unprecedented threat to its Indigenous people, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s tardy vaccination rollout exposing vulnerable populations as the virus spreads from Sydney to threaten more remote outback areas.
Authorities over the weekend locked down the entire New South Wales state, which on Monday detected a record 478 new COVID-19 cases as the delta variant spreads, while Sydney’s stay-at-home orders were toughened seven weeks after being implemented.
On Monday, areas of the Northern Territory including Darwin will enter a snap three-day lockdown after a case was detected; about 30% of the territory’s population of about 250,000 people are Indigenous. Meanwhile, authorities in national capital of Canberra, which reported 19 new cases on Monday, announced the extension of an initial seven-day lockdown until at least Sept. 2, after Sydney’s delta outbreak reached the region.