As Australia’s largest city battles a Covid epidemic, Sydney residents will remain in lockdown for another week.
New South Wales’ government stated that it made the difficult decision in fighting the highly transmissible Delta strain.
On 26 June, a stay-at-home order had been issued.
Since the outbreak, Australia has seen 910 deaths and less than 31,000 new cases.
After people infected with the virus left their homes to get essentials, clusters emerged.
This year’s worst outbreak is estimated to have been around 330.
On Friday, a stay-at-home order that covered more than five millions residents of the Greater Sydney, Wollongong, and Central Coast regions was to be lifted. The deadline has been extended to Friday, 16 July. Schools will also be closed next Monday.
New South Wales’ government acknowledged the pain and stress lockdown was causing to families and businesses.
Australia will reduce arrivals by half to combat the Delta strain
Half of Australians locked up in the midst of vaccine chaos
How Australia’s Covid bubble burst after Delta
Officials said that the daily case rate of 27 new cases was recorded on Wednesday and low vaccination levels meant that the restrictions had to be increased.
Only 10% of Australians have been fully vaccinated. Many Australians won’t be able get a shot until the end of the year because of a shortage of vaccine supplies.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian stated Wednesday that she wanted to give the best chance for us to make sure this is the only lockdown until all our citizens have been vaccinated.
“We don’t want to be constantly in lockdown or no lockdown.
Australia fights the Delta strain
Despite the fact that cases have been spreading across Australia, Sydney was the hardest affected.
Last week, the virus was leaked from quarantine hotels. This prompted snap lockdowns in the capital cities of all states, including Perth, Darwin and Brisbane. The virus is estimated to have affected half of the country’s population.
The virus was contained by the authorities in these cities and lockdowns were ended last week.
Australia has used lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus and quick contact tracing when it was breaching its strict border defenses.
