SYDNEY / MELBOURNE, Sept. 21 (Reuters) – Melbourne police fired pepperballs and rubber pellets Tuesday to disperse about 2,000 protesters who opposed stay-at-home orders, damaging property, heading for a busy highway block and injure three officers, resulting in more than 60 arrests.
It was the second day of demonstrations in the lockdown Australian city after authorities closed construction sites for two weeks as frequent worker movement spread the coronavirus.
During eight hours of downtown protests, protesters threw stones, bottles and torches at police as television and social media showed videos of protesters singing and attacking police cars, surrounded by mounted police and officers in riot gear.
“This was a very, very large and very, very angry group,” Shane Patton, police superintendent in southeastern Victoria, told reporters, adding that the protest violated the COVID-19 lockdown rules.
“And it was a challenging and confrontational environment,” he added, urging people to stay away on Wednesday.
Protesters included not only construction workers, but also opponents of compulsory vaccinations and Victoria’s extended lockdown who cursed the sting, Prime Minister Dan Andrews and the union leader who had supported vaccination for members.
“Acts of violence and disruption don’t lead to one less case of COVID – in fact, it just helps the virus spread,” Andrews said in a statement.
The construction freeze followed a protest against a vaccine mandate that turned violent on Monday. The state requires all construction workers to receive at least one dose of vaccine by the end of this week.
“The public health team had no choice but to hit the pause button and continue working with the sector for the next two weeks to improve compliance,” Health Secretary Martin Foley told reporters.
A trade unionist reaches out to construction workers opposed to work-related coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions at the headquarters of the Construction, Forest, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) headquarters in Melbourne, Australia on September 20, 2021 protest. AAP Image / James Ross via REUTERS
The forced closings of construction sites will exacerbate Australia’s economic troubles, with some economists predicting the extended lockdowns could propel the A $ 2 trillion ($ 1.45 trillion) economy into a second recession in as many years.
Australia has locked its largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the capital Canberra, to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant.
But the hard curbs sparked anti-lockdown rallies that saw police arrest hundreds in both cities over the weekend. Continue reading
The 603 new infections in Victoria on Tuesday were the highest daily number that year, with one new death recorded.
Authorities have begun easing some restrictions on outdoor gatherings and exercise in Sydney and Melbourne as vaccination rates rise, with promises of more freedom once 70 to 80% of the population’s adults have received both doses.
In the state of New South Wales, home of Sydney, 53% have been fully vaccinated to date, while the vaccination protection in Victoria is 44%.
New South Wales reported 1,022 new infections, most in Sydney, its capital, up from 935 on Monday and 10 deaths.
Even with the Delta outbreaks, COVID-19 infections in Australia are lower than many comparable nations at 88,700 cases and 1,178 deaths.
(This story corrects the day of the week to Tuesday, not Thursday in paragraph 1)
($ 1 = A $ 1.3780)
Reporting from Renju Jose; Additional coverage by Sonali Paul; Edited by Michael Perry and Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/21/melbourne-police-fire-pepper-balls-pellets-to-break-up-covid-19-protest/
No comments:
Post a Comment