Australia extends Sydney lockdown until end of month

Sydney, Australia, Jul 14 (EFE).- The Australian authorities on Wednesday extended until July 30 the lockdown of Greater Sydney due to an outbreak of Covid-19 linked to the Delta variant.

“We need to extend the lockdown at least a further two weeks,” said New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian, reporting 97 new community cases, with a number of unknown origin.

This outbreak, detected in the middle of last month, forced the authorities to decree on June 26 the strict lockdown of some 6 million inhabitants of the Sydney metropolitan area and surrounding communities.

The outbreak which supposedly arose in Bondi, has spread to other areas of the city, accumulating more than 800 active cases.

The previous day, the Australian government announced financial aid for workers and businesses affected by the lockdown, as well as an injection of AU$17.35 million ($13 million) for mental health services in New South Wales.

Australia has accumulated more than 31,300 cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, which includes 912 deaths, and tries to accelerate its drawn-out vaccination campaign, that so far has only fully inoculated less than 10 percent of its population. EFE

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