Australia PM Backs Reopening Targets, Says Covid Lockdowns Unsustainable

Australia managed the pandemic better than many other developed countries but a slow vaccine rollout has thrown Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities, and capital Canberra into lockdowns to combat outbreaks of the Delta variant.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday the country must begin to ease strict COVID-19 restrictions once vaccination rates increase, with over half of all Australians enduring weeks-long lockdowns to curb Delta outbreaks. Some states have flagged they may not stick to a national plan that would include relaxing border controls, worried about a surge in cases in the country's southeast, with Sydney breaking new one-day records for infections. "(Lockdowns) cannot go on forever. This is not a sustainable way to live in this country," Morrison said during a televised media conference in Canberra. "Because if not at 70% and 80%, then when? Then when? We must make that move and we must prepare to make that move and we must prepare the country to make that move."