As Delta Covid-19 variant keeps Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand on edge, could Israel and Britain offer lessons?
- The rapid spread of a more contagious virus variant is a stark reminder to zero-Covid places that border and movement restrictions are no substitute for mass immunisation
- Britain and Israel, which are leading global vaccination rates, have seen outbreaks but fewer deaths and hospitalisations
“Until we have a high rate of vaccination, we are in an unstable and vulnerable position, and we have to not lose sight of this,” said Hassan Vally, an epidemiologist at La Trobe University in Melbourne. “The Delta variant and the increased threat it poses has highlighted this fact.”
The Delta variant, which is circulating in at least 85 countries, is believed to be 60 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant first identified in Britain, which in turn is about 50 per cent more infectious than the original Covid-19 strain recorded in Wuhan.
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Covid-19 Delta variant: how infectious it is and how it may ‘shift thinking’ on countries reopening
On Tuesday, Brisbane began a three-day lockdown after an unvaccinated hospital worker tested positive for the virus, following similar orders in recent days in Sydney, Perth and Darwin.
