Locked-down Melbourne tightens security for COVID-19 protests

September 22, 2021

By Renju Jose and Paulina Duran

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Police fanned out on Wednesday across the centre of Australia’s second-largest city of Melbourne, to keep a lid on a third successive day of protests over COVID-19 lockdown curbs, as the state of Victoria saw another rise in infections.

More than 60 people were arrested on Tuesday, after more than 2,000 protesters damaged property, blocked a busy freeway and injured three police, following a two-week closure of construction sites to limit the spread of the disease.

Groups of protesters roamed the streets and gathered at a city landmark on Wednesday despite pleas to remain home, but most avoided clashes with busloads of police, while state police chief Shane Patton vowed to prevent more violence.

Police asked the aviation authority to declare a no-fly zone above Melbourne, the state capital, for operational and safety reasons, said police media official Belinda Batty.

“This is a very dynamic situation,” she told Reuters, but declined to reveal the number of arrests.

By late afternoon, television images showed a large group of police had dispersed several hundred protesters gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance, which honours war service.

In the clip, groups of two or three police took protesters away from the structure, one at a time, before appearing to note their details on a lawn nearby.

The protests followed a decision by authorities to make vaccines mandatory for construction workers and to enforce the closure of building sites from Tuesday, citing non-compliance with health rules.

However, authorities and union officials said extremist and far-right groups had also joined the protest.

“There were some people there who you would say were from the building industry. There were others who were not … they are not there to protest, they are there for a fight, pretend to be protesting,” said the state’s premier, Daniel Andrews.

Some protesters have refused to speak to reporters on the scene, chanting “Fake news” when approached, local media said. Others held banners with the slogan, “End lockdown now!”

RE-OPENING PLANS

Australia’s largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the capital, Canberra, have been in lockdown for weeks to restrain a Delta outbreak.

The lockdown is the sixth for Victoria’s capital of Melbourne, the most of any Australian city since the pandemic began.

Authorities aim to resume daily activities in Sydney and Melbourne in a staggered fashion, easing some curbs when the share of fully vaccinated adults in the population reaches 70%, which is expected next month.

Further relaxations will follow when the figure hits 80%.

Some 54% of people aged 16 and above are fully vaccinated in the most populous state of New South Wales and 45% in the southeastern state of Victoria.

Victoria recorded 628 new infections on Wednesday, the year’s biggest one-day rise, exceeding the previous high of 603 a day before. New South Wales, whose capital is Sydney, had a total of 1,035 new infections, up from 1,022 on Tuesday.

Australia’s tally of infections stands at about 90,300, including 1,186 deaths, with eight new deaths reported.

(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Richard Pullin and Clarence Fernandez)

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