Authorities warned Wednesday that millions of Sydney residents will be put on lockdown for another month due to a still-growing coronavirus outbreak and low vaccination rates.
The city of Sydney was supposed to come out of lockdown on July 30 after five weeks, but the limitations will be in place until August 28 as the number of cases continues to rise.
“I appreciate what we're asking people to do for the next four weeks personally, but it's because we want to keep our community safe and recover as quickly as possible,” New South Wales state premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
According to officials, the Sydney outbreak, which began in mid-June when a driver for an international flight crew acquired the virus, has now been linked to 177 new cases.
Residents in hotspots have been advised not to leave their communities, but those who are single will be permitted to form a "singles bubble" with another person.
Berejiklian promised that police will increase their compliance efforts and urged Sydney residents to report those who were breaching the regulations.
“We desperately need people to always do the right thing. “Do not relax your guard,” she said.
Melbourne awoke to the end of its fifth viral lockdown, having defeated the Delta variety for the second time in recent months, thanks to "determination and hard work," according to Victoria state leader Dan Andrews.
They were among the roughly eight million individuals who were released from lockdown overnight in Victoria and South Australia after local outbreaks of the highly dangerous strain were suppressed.
Australia was praised for its early pandemic success, which came after it closed its international borders and moved promptly to eliminate Covid-19 clusters.
It has failed to respond to the Delta variety due to a mostly unvaccinated populace, constantly putting cities on lockdown.
With an inadequate supply of Pfizer-BioNTech shots and skepticism about the AstraZeneca vaccine, approximately 13% of Australians were inoculated.
With a population of 25 million people, the country has recorded over 33,000 illnesses and 921 Covid-related deaths.
