Brisbane (dpa) – The corona mutation from England has been detected for the first time in Australia. As an immediate reaction, the city of Brisbane in the state of Queensland is going into a three-day lockdown.
display
—
From Friday evening to Monday evening, residents are only allowed to leave their homes in exceptional cases, for example to go shopping or to drive to work. “Think of it as a long weekend at home with family or friends,” said Queensland Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk.
In addition, by order of the government in Canberra, many international flight connections are to be restricted by 50 percent by February 15. In addition, stricter measures are being introduced for returnees to Australia, including submitting a negative corona test before departure.
The new variant of the corona virus from Great Britain had previously been detected in an employee of a quarantine hotel in Brisbane. After the announcement of the lockdown, there was panic buying in the region, as the newspaper “Brisbane Times” wrote. Many supermarkets were completely overcrowded.
Thanks to strict measures, Australia has come through the crisis comparatively very lightly. In total, only about 28,500 cases have been recorded so far, around 900 people died in connection with Covid-19.
