Delta Variant Surge Forces Sydney Into Hard Lockdown

CNN reports:

Sydney will enter a hard two-week lockdown on Saturday night local time as authorities try to contain a fast-spreading outbreak of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant in Australia’s largest city, the state leader said. More than a million people in downtown Sydney and the city’s eastern suburbs were already under lockdown due to the outbreak, but health authorities said they needed to expand that after more Covid-19 cases were recorded, with exposure sites increasing beyond the initial areas of concern.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

The New Zealand government has suspended the trans-Tasman bubble for those flying from Australia for three days from late Saturday due to “multiple cases and outbreaks in Australia.” Quarantine-free travel for Australians entering New Zealand ended at 10.30pm local time on Saturday (8.30pm AEST) and will finish at 11.59pm local time on Tuesday. People travelling from New Zealand into Australia can still do so without having to quarantine on arrival.

BREAKING—Sydney ?? just announced a two week lockdown for Greater Sydney because of #DeltaVariant. “If we’re going to do this, we need to do it properly. There’s no point doing a 3-day and then having #COVID19 continue to bubble away in the community.” https://t.co/5HpJT6GnLi

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) June 26, 2021