The Australian city of Sydney has extended a lockdown by four weeks amid a continued rise in Covid-19 cases.
The announcement made on Wednesday (July 28) by premier Gladys Berejiklian comes after a protracted stay-at-home order failed to stem an outbreak of the more contagious Delta variant. The state’s lockdown was initially supposed to end on Friday.
Sydney’s population has been under stay-at-home orders since June 26
More than 2,500 people have been infected in Sydney’s worst outbreak this year, according to a BBC report. The state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, reported 177 new cases on Wednesday, its highest daily count since March 2020.
Under the extended lockdown, stricter movement curbs have been enforced, including a 10km limit on essential shopping.
Berejiklian was quoted by media reports as saying that police would boost enforcement of wide-ranging social distancing rules and urged people to report suspected wrongdoing, saying: “We cannot put up with people continuing to do the wrong thing because it is setting us all back.”
In one case, a mourning ceremony attended by 50 people in violation of lockdown rules resulted in 45 infections, she said.
The extension turns what was initially intended to be a “snap” lockdown of Australia’s most populous city into one of the country’s longest since the start of the pandemic.
The states of Victoria and South Australia both came out of lockdowns on Wednesday, after bringing smaller outbreaks under control.
The Australian city of Sydney has extended a lockdown by four weeks amid a continued rise in Covid-19 cases.
The announcement made on Wednesday (July 28) by premier Gladys Berejiklian comes after a protracted stay-at-home order failed to stem an outbreak of the more contagious Delta variant. The state’s lockdown was initially supposed to end on Friday.
More than 2,500 people have been infected in Sydney’s worst outbreak this year, according to a BBC report. The state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, reported 177 new cases on Wednesday, its highest daily count since March 2020.
Under the extended lockdown, stricter movement curbs have been enforced, including a 10km limit on essential shopping.
Berejiklian was quoted by media reports as saying that police would boost enforcement of wide-ranging social distancing rules and urged people to report suspected wrongdoing, saying: “We cannot put up with people continuing to do the wrong thing because it is setting us all back.”
In one case, a mourning ceremony attended by 50 people in violation of lockdown rules resulted in 45 infections, she said.
The extension turns what was initially intended to be a “snap” lockdown of Australia’s most populous city into one of the country’s longest since the start of the pandemic.
The states of Victoria and South Australia both came out of lockdowns on Wednesday, after bringing smaller outbreaks under control.