By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s federal government will wind down emergency funding for people who lost work during COVID-19 shutdowns as vaccination rates increase across the country, putting pressure on state and territory leaders to keep their economies open.

Individual states and territories will have to pay the cost if the federal government decides to stop funding them after inoculation levels exceed 80%.

Frydenberg stated Wednesday to Seven News that “this” emergency payment should be ended. Look around and you will see people starting to go about their daily lives while learning to deal with the COVID.

Australia’s capital Canberra and Sydney, two of its largest cities, are currently under lockdown as they deal with the third, Delta-fueled, virus wave.

Australia’s A$2Trillion (1.5 Trillion) economy has been in lockdown for several weeks due to the shutdowns.

Recent data shows that Australian employment declined in August. Lockdowns in Sydney, Melbourne and other cities forced companies to reduce hours and cut workers. A sharp drop in job opportunities helped push the unemployment rate down.

The federal government gives state and territory leaders the ability to shut down their borders in Australia. This is to prevent the import of viruses from hotspots.

Federal government has spent over A$9Billion ($6.5B) in June to help around 2 Million people. They want all borders to be reopened once the national 80% vaccine threshold is met, due November.

Although a national cabinet has been created in order to provide a coordinated response to the pandemic. However, certain state leaders indicate that they will not adhere to this national plan.

The Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan refused to allow further lockdowns to be considered even though most people are vaccinated.

Frydenberg indicated that federal income assistance payments will be phased out once the state attains 70% vaccination. To confirm eligibility, workers affected by the reduction in federal income support payments must apply each week. After the target of 80% is reached, payment will be stopped for two weeks.

This means New South Wales would be without payments for two weeks, as it is the state with the highest population and the epicenter of this current epidemic. The state has 62% population, which is higher than the national average of 53%.

Queensland and Western Australia are the states with the lowest rates of vaccination. Both states do not receive federal income assistance.

New South Wales reported 863 new cases of infection on Wednesday. This is the same number as a day before and there were 15 deaths.

Victoria reported an unprecedented number of infections on Wednesday, reporting 950 new cases and seven deaths.

Australia’s total cases were around 103,000 with 1 278 deaths.

($1 = 1.3778 Australian dollars)