:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/GSJLNS5AYFAVFLWUZM7QGWBENE.jpg "Australia, hit by the Delta variant, records its day with the most deaths from coronavirus in 10 months")
Australia registered this Thursday five deaths from Covid-19 in the state of New South Wales, the epicenter of the current outbreak linked to Delta variant, the highest death toll since the end of September 2020.
The fatalities are three people who are around 60 years old, one with 70 and another over 80, four of them were not vaccinated, while the fifth had a dose of AstraZeneca, the head of the regional government, Gladys Berejiklian, told the media.
Despite the strict measures implemented on Sydney and the surrounding populations, which comprise a quarter of the 25 million inhabitants of the country, cases continue to increase and today 262 new patients were reported.
The authorities of New South Wales, whose capital is Sydney, included as of this afternoon and for at least a week the Hunter region, north of the metropolis, in the areas under confinement.
Some 300 soldiers joined the Police surveillance tasks for six weeks since Monday to ensure “maximum compliance” with the restrictions imposed in Sydney, in force until August 28.
Soldiers will work unarmed under the orders of the NSW Police, tracing contacts and verifying that people with Covid-19 or considered as close contacts remain in isolation, among other tasks.
Meanwhile, in the state of Queensland, under confinement until Sunday, 16 cases were registered, and in Victoria six new infections.
The country, which experienced its most contagious and deadly wave in mid-2020 and concentrated in the city of Melbourne, accumulates more than 35,000 cases, including 930 deaths.
The authorities are trying to accelerate their vaccination program, which has administered the full schedule to 20 percent of the population over 16 years of age and is expected to end by Christmas, two months later than planned.