CANBERRA – About 2 million Australians began their first full day of strict coronavirus blocking on Monday after the discovery of a case in the community in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, but no new cases have been found since.
Authorities ordered the Perth blockade for five days after a hotel security guard used to quarantine people returning from abroad was found to have contracted the virus.
The state government said 66 people were considered close contacts with the unidentified guard and that none of those already tested were infected.
“In total, 13 close contacts were negative and of those 11 high-risk contacts were moved to the hotel’s quarantine as an extra precaution,” Western Australia’s Prime Minister Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth.
Tests on the rest of the close contacts are due to be completed by Monday, McGowan said.
Australia has largely managed to contain its new coronavirus epidemic – limiting cases to almost 29,000 and deaths to 909 – with the kind of decisive action seen in Perth and tight border controls.
A vaccine campaign is due to begin this month, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison said will cost at least $ 4.8 billion.
Australia had previously promised to spend $ 3.35 billion to purchase sufficient doses for its population of 26 million, but Morrison said his government has set aside another $ 1.9 billion to pay for the implantation.
“The strategy is supported by an initial allocation of about $ 1.45 billion in new support for the vaccine launch. This is in addition to more than $ 4.4 billion allocated for the purchase of vaccines, ”said Morrison in a speech in Canberra.
Classifying the vaccination program as his “first priority”, Morrison said the economy should now start to get rid of government spending.
Australia has pledged more than $ 190 billion in stimulus, which has already started to decline.
But Morrison said there is a limit to the support the government can offer.
“We are not running a blank check budget,” said Morrison.