Covid Whence Delta Revealed Australia's Pandemic Weakness Gap By Expanding Access To Vaccines.

Over the past year, Australia is taking an almost happy break from the global pandemic. He has reached a "covid normal" where people can visit restaurants and nightclubs and mingle with crowds at festivals and theaters.

The country's strong defenses against Covid - border closures and mandatory quarantines - work 99.99% of the time. When cases were depleted entirely, officials acted quickly, closing down the city and pursuing infected contacts. Sydney - Australia's largest and most prosperous city - has now managed to evade periodic bans, helped by the gold standard contact tracing system.

But in the past two weeks, Delta Option had managed to break through the city's defenses. Within a week, positive cases rose to more than 100. On Friday, 25 June, officials recognized the need to shut down Sydney. By following Monday, the crisis had become national, with outbreaks in four countries and regions. A new outbreak sends Australian cities to the blockade.

Why are Asia's "winners" facing new challenges for Covid?

Sydney, Darwin, Perth, and Brisbane - all capital cities - are now closed. More than 20 million Australians, about 80% of the population, live under restrictions - the highest number since the country was put on lockdown at the start of the pandemic. At an emergency meeting on Monday, the federal and state governments tried to close the gap by expanding access to vaccines.

But many Australians are wondering why they have returned to life in confinement seven months after the world started mass vaccinations.

How Delta overcomes weaknesses

Epidemiologists say the Delta variant has so far proven to be the most contagious and infectious of all strains.