Brisbane, Australia – Australia’s third largest city went into blockade and borders were set to narrow across the country on Friday after a cleaning lady at a quarantined hotel hired the UK coronavirus strain that the authorities say is more infectious. More than two million residents in the Greater Brisbane area will have to stay at home for at least three days from Friday night, officials said.
“If we want to stop the spread of this infectious strain, this strain from the United Kingdom, we must act immediately,” Queensland Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk told the media.
Long lines formed at stores around the city, prompting authorities to ask people to stop shopping in a panic. Entry restrictions will still allow residents to leave the home to purchase essential items.
In the central commercial area of Brisbane, Queen Street Mall, people expressed broad support for the measures – eager to avoid increasing the number of cases seen as variant takes over Britain.
Andy McPhee, 51, a Brisbane resident who works for an international company, said the blockade paled in comparison to what his colleagues abroad were experiencing.
“I don’t think a three-day block will hurt us. I think it is imperative to eliminate the virus,” McPhee told AFP. “One case becomes two and two cases become 10, so before you know it, it can get a little out of control.”
British officials said the variant, which triggered the first warnings in the UK last month, appears to be between 50% and 70% more infectious than other strains of COVID-19 most commonly detected in Australia.
Several variant cases from the UK and South Africa have been detected in travelers currently under mandatory quarantine in Australia in recent weeks.
But the Queensland case was the first to be hired locally and is believed to have spread to a cleaner from a traveler returning in isolation at a quarantine hotel in Brisbane.
New rules across the country
The city blockade signaled a return to restrictions not seen since March. Residents were forced to stay at home and wear masks when leaving, for essential reasons only.
Following the announcement, authorities across the country restricted travel to and from Brisbane and tightened the already strict rules on international arrivals.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that all international travelers must now pass tests before flying to Australia.
The already low number of arrivals would also be temporarily reduced by 50 percent and a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all travelers will be maintained.
The new strains
“There are many unknowns and uncertainties about the new strain, which is why this precautionary approach, we believe, is very sensible,” said Morrison.
Researchers are struggling to determine how much more contagious the British variant – known as B.1.1.7 – is. Data outside Britain is limited.
Another important question is whether existing vaccines work against the new strain, with Pfizer reporting on Friday that preliminary results were positive and vaccines seemed to work.
Normal summer, interrupted
Before the announcement, Brisbane was among several Australian cities that returned to relative normality during the southern hemisphere’s summer.
Queensland did not register any new cases of transmission in the community on Friday.
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But the recent outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne have forced travel across state borders to be severely restricted again amid increasing pressure on authorities to accelerate the vaccine’s release.
On Thursday, Morrison announced plans to anticipate planned vaccine launches by weeks. They are now scheduled to start in February.
Australia recorded more than 28,500 cases of COVID-19 and 909 virus-related deaths, out of a population of about 25 million.