Covid: Anger as half of Australians in lockdown again

Anger is growing in Australia as 13 million people – about half the population – endure fresh lockdowns to quash Covid outbreaks.

A third state, South Australia, joined Victoria and parts of New South Wales in lockdown on Tuesday.

Fewer than 14% of Australians are vaccinated – the worst rating among OECD nations.

Australia’s two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are among places facing uncertainty over when to re-open.

Many people have expressed frustration at being back in highly policed lockdowns 18 months into the pandemic.

Re-openings in the UK and the US have increased pressure on the federal government.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been heavily criticised over the slow vaccination rate, but has resisted calls to apologise.

“No country has got their pandemic response 100%. I think Australians understand that,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

He again cited Australia’s success in keeping overall infections well below many nations. It has recorded 915 deaths.

Mr Morrison noted that the UK had seen over 90 deaths in a single day on Tuesday.

But Labor frontbencher Jim Chalmers said: “This is a prime minister who hides while people hurt.”

Until recently, Australia had been largely praised for its strategy of border closures, quarantine programmes and snap lockdowns.

But the highly contagious Delta variant has challenged these defences in the past month.