Millions of Australians are this week under Covid lockdowns, 18 months on from the virus reaching our shores - with one expert saying they could remain until next year.
On Tuesday, Victoria extended their lockdown, South Australia joined them by announcing their own, and in NSW authorities have hinted at keeping restrictions in place until widespread vaccination.
Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon said previous outbreaks of the Delta variant in Australia had been contained but this wave was more advanced.
Experts have suggested Australia could endure lockdown restrictions until well in 2022 (pictured: health workers at an Adelaide drive-thru clinic) Look at the numbers in [Sydney s] eastern suburbs where this started. The numbers have come down in the last 10 days . but this could really go either way, he said.
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MORE WORRIED ABOUT MELBOURNE THAN SYDNEY Prof Collignon said until those links could all be pinned down, there was a possibility the Victoria outbreak may have come from somewhere other than NSW. In some ways, I m a little more concerned by the cases in Melbourne than Sydney, he said. That it s from NSW is a presumption at the moment and that s why we need genomic testing given there s been restrictions in NSW for quite a while, as well as between Sydney and Victoria and that the virus is not that widespread among people in Sydney. He added, It s a worry none of these women have been to Sydney in the last two to three weeks. If it isn t related to Sydney then how did it get here?
MORE WORRIED ABOUT MELBOURNE THAN SYDNEY Prof Collignon said until those links could all be pinned down, there was a possibility the Victoria outbreak may have come from somewhere other than NSW. In some ways, I m a little more concerned by the cases in Melbourne than Sydney, he said. That it s from NSW is a presumption at the moment and that s why we need genomic testing given there s been restrictions in NSW for quite a while, as well as between Sydney and Victoria and that the virus is not that widespread among people in Sydney. He added, It s a worry none of these women have been to Sydney in the last two to three weeks. If it isn t related to Sydney then how did it get here?