CANBERRA – About 2 million Australians began their first full day of strict coronavirus blockage on Monday after a case was discovered in the community of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, but no new cases have been found since.
Authorities ordered a five-day blockade of Perth after a security guard at a hotel used to quarantine people returning from overseas was found to have contracted the virus.
The state government said 66 people were considered close contacts of the unidentified security guard and that none of those already tested had been infected.
“A total of 13 close contacts have yielded negative results, and of the 11 high-risk contacts have been moved to hotel quarantine as a precautionary measure,” Western Australian Prime Minister Mark McGowan told Perth reporters.
Tests for the rest of the close contacts were expected to be completed on Monday, McGowan said.
Australia has managed to contain largely the new coronavirus epidemic – limiting cases to almost 29,000 and deaths to 909 – with decisive action seen in Perth and strict border control.
A vaccination campaign is set to begin this month, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said will cost at least $ 4.8 billion.
Australia had already pledged $ 3.35 billion to purchase enough doses for its 26 million people, but Morrison said his government had set aside another $ 1.9 billion to pay for implementation.
The strategy is backed by an initial allocation of approximately $ 1.45 billion in new support for the vaccine launch. It amounts to more than $ 4.4 billion allocated for the purchase of vaccines, “Morrison said in a speech in Canberra.
Describing the inoculation program as “his first priority,” Morrison said the economy must now begin to get rid of government spending.
Australia has pledged more than $ 190 billion in stimulus, which has already begun to decline.
But Morrison said there is a limit to the support the government can afford.
“We don’t run an incomplete check budget,” Morrison said.