CANBERRA – About 2 million Australians started their first full day of a strict coronavirus lockout on Monday after the discovery of one case in the community in Perth, the capital of the state of Western Australia, but no new cases have been found since.
Authorities ordered Perth to be detained for five days after a security guard at a hotel used to quarantine people returning from abroad contracted the virus.
The state government said 66 people were considered close contacts of the unidentified guard and none of those already tested were infected.
“A total of 13 close contacts have now tested negative and of those 11 high-risk contacts have been placed in hotel quarantine as an extra precaution,” Western Australia Prime Minister Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth.
Tests on the rest of the close contacts are expected to be completed on Monday, McGowan said.
Australia has managed to contain much of its new coronavirus epidemic – the number of cases limited to nearly 29,000 and the number of deaths to 909 – with the kind of bold measures we see in Perth, and tight border controls.
A vaccination campaign will begin this month, which according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison would cost at least $ 4.8 billion.
Australia had already pledged to spend $ 3.35 billion to get enough doses for its 26 million residents, but Morrison said his government had set aside an additional $ 1.9 billion to pay for the rollout.
“The strategy is supported by an initial allocation of approximately $ 1.45 billion in new support for vaccine deployment. This is in addition to the more than $ 4.4 billion allocated to purchase vaccines, ”Morrison said in a speech in Canberra.
Morrison called the vaccination program his “first priority” and said the economy should now start weaning off government spending.
Australia has pledged more than $ 190 billion in stimulus packages, which are already beginning to wind down.
But Morrison said there was a limit to the aid the government could afford.
“We don’t have a blank check budget,” said Morrison.