By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters) -More than half of Australia’s adult population were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Friday, authorities said, as they step up inoculations in hopes of easing restrictions while cases linger near daily record levels in Victoria.

Australia faces a third wave infected by the highly infectious Delta strain. It has resulted in lockdowns across its capital Canberra and two of Australia’s largest cities, Sydney, Melbourne. The virus is now affecting more than half of Australia’s 25 million inhabitants.

The decision to close construction sites in Sydney and Melbourne for two weeks due to the spread of the virus among workers led to protests against the lockdown.

Local media reports that police made several arrests in Melbourne Friday to stop more protests.

Australia’s Southeast remains subject to strict stay-at home rules. However, Western Australia, which is virus-free, will be hosting the Australian Rules Football Grand Final at Perth Stadium in Perth on Saturday.

Melbourne hosted the Grand Finals every year since 1898. It was also the spiritual home of the sport until last year’s pandemic.

Victoria, which reported one more death Friday and 733 new infected, was the second largest daily increase in pandemic cases, after the record-breaking 766 recorded on Thursday. The majority of cases were found in Melbourne.

Leaders from Victoria and New South Wales have promised more liberty to residents when full vaccinations for people over 16 attain 70%. This is expected to happen next month. As of now, 57% of NSW residents have received full vaccinations, which is higher than the 50.1% national average. The country received two million doses in seven days.

The country’s most severe outbreak was in NSW. It reported 1,043 cases per day on Thursday, down from 1,063 the previous week.

“We’re seeing encouraging declines… we hope to see more in the next days and weeks,” Kerry Chant (state Chief Health Officer) said in a Sydney media briefing.

Officials said any relaxation of restrictions in NSW will be “cautiously” and “moderately” once the state reaches its 70% dual dose target. This is to prevent spikes that could overburden its healthcare systems.

With 94,000 deaths and 1208 cases, Australia is faring well despite the rapid-moving Delta epidemic. The death rate has also been lower this year due to higher vaccine rates.