Covid-19 tracker: Australia ranked the worst nation for vaccine rollout

Frustration is growing across Australia as more than half of the population suffers through further lockdowns to curb the growing Covid-19 outbreaks

18 months into the lockdown, many are questioning why they are subjected to tough stay-at-home orders, as countries like England and the US open up.

Less than 14 percent of the entire population is vaccinated – which is the worst rating out of the OECD nations

It comes as Prime Minister, Scott Morrison acknowledges the nation’s struggles but refuses to apologise.

He says “no country has got their pandemic response 100%” and spoke of the nation’s low overall infection rates compared to many other countries.

915 people have died as a result of Covid-19 in Australia since the pandemic began.

Border closures, hotel quarantine programmes and lockdowns have all helped keep case numbers low in the past, but the increased prevalence of the Delta strain has authorities concerned.

‘This is a dangerous time’ – three Australian states in lockdown

Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia all remain subject to strict stay-at-home orders today as residents wait to see if all of their hard work is paying off.

“This is a dangerous time,” Mr Marshall said.

“I’m 100 per cent convinced that South Australians will rise to the challenge, will make sure they can abide by these new restrictions, and make sure we get through this in as short a time as possible.”

Victoria is currently in an extended lockdown, reporting its highest number of locally acquired covid cases to date this year on Thursday morning.

“As promising as our progress has been avoiding a New South Wales-style long, lengthy, very challenging lockdown, where you just lose control of cases, we’ve avoided that, but we need more time,” Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, NSW is in the midst of a 5-week lockdown.

Where did it all begin?

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant confirmed on Thursday that the Sydney driver who tested positive for COVID-19 had the Delta variant.

According to the ABC, while the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria also involved the Delta variant, that outbreak was linked to a different source of infection.

The Delta variant was first detected in India in October last year.

UK authorities have estimated the Delta variant is 40 per cent more infectious than the Alpha variant that sent Britain into lockdown at the start of the year.