MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian health officials said on Saturday that they are on high alert after cases of highly communicable new variants of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa reach the country.
Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, went into a strict three-day lockdown on Saturday after the discovery of a virulent strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 linked to Britain. A variant that showed up in South Africa was found in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, in a hotel quarantine.
Australia is more successful than most advanced economies in controlling the pandemic, with about 28,600 and 909 deaths in total, with each state having zero COVID-19 transmissions on record.
But given the new variants, the government cut the number of travelers from abroad on Friday, requiring negative COVID-19 tests of those boarding planes and more tests at local quarantine facilities.
“As long as people are traveling there is a risk of the virus entering the community,” New South Wales Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian told a news conference.
“Anything we can do to reduce that risk is very important, especially now that we understand what these species are doing, and all experts are advising in due course that these mutated species will become the dominant species.”
Australia closed its borders in March but allows a limited number of Australians to return, putting them in a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine upon arrival.
New South Wales, the largest state, reported a new community-borne case on Saturday as a three-week lockdown for about a quarter of a million people in north Sydney will end after an outbreak there in December.
Queensland, where a case of the UK-linked variant was registered last week, reported no new cases. But officials said they could not rule out the extension of the three-day lockdown if more cases were to arise.
“This is because of this new variant and because it is the first time that this new variant has been marketed in a community anywhere in the country,” said Jeannette Young, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer.
Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by William Mallard