Australia battles several clusters in new pandemic phase

Australia is battling to contain several COVID-19 clusters around the country in what some experts have described as the nation’s most dangerous stage of the pandemic since the earliest days

CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia was battling to contain several COVID-19 clusters around the country on Monday in what some experts have described as the nation’s most dangerous stage of the pandemic since the earliest days. Sydney in the east and Darwin in the north were locked down on Monday. Perth in the west made masks compulsory for three days and warned a lockdown could follow after a resident tested positive after visiting Sydney more than a week ago. Brisbane and Canberra have or will soon make wearing masks compulsory. Australia has been relatively successful in containing clusters throughout the pandemic, registering less than 31,000 cases since the pandemic began. But the new clusters have highlighted the nation’s slow vaccine rollout with only 5% of the population fully vaccinated.