Samuel Case, FISM News
[elfsight_social_share_buttons id=”1″]
Melbourne and Sydney, Australia erupted with anti-lockdown protests over the weekend. Thousands took to the streets to demand freedom from their country’s heavy-handed pandemic restrictions, resulting in hundreds of arrests and several injured police officers.
Video from Melbourne showed over 4,000 protesters breaking the police line, as police tried to gain control of the situation. Reuters reports that Saturday’s Melbourne protest resulted in 218 arrests and 236 fines, while Sydney saw 47 people charged with breaching public health orders or resisting arrest, along with 260 fines. Seven officers were hospitalized from the riotous behavior.
JUST 🚨 Chaotic scenes as protesters break through police barricades in Melbourne, Australia #Melbourneprotest #sydneyprotest pic.twitter.com/vHOXIjtpav
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) August 21, 2021
Sydney has been in state of lockdown for over two months, imposing a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and fining citizens who enter any of the 12 worst-affected councils, while also subjecting them to a 14-day quarantine. The city of Melbourne has similar measures as well. These harsh restrictions come as Australia is seeing a spike in cases, with over 900 new cases on Sunday. Daily deaths, however, remain in the single digits.
Bourke Shire Council in New South Wales resorted to extreme measures over the weekend to prevent the spread of the virus by ordering that dogs at a local animal shelter be shot. Sky News reports this was done, “to prevent volunteers at an animal shelter from travelling to pick them up and potentially spreading the virus.”
Meanwhile the neighboring country of New Zealand is seeing a similarly heavy-handed approach to an uptick in cases. The country went into complete lockdown last week after it’s first confirmed case in six months. On Sunday New Zealand saw 24 new cases, but the country has not had a single death since February.
The BBC reports New Zealand entered a “level 4” lockdown, meaning schools, offices, and all business are closed, with an exception for “essential services.” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told New Zealanders, “Don’t talk to your neighbors. Please keep to your bubble.”