Experiencing An Increase In Delta Variant COVID-19 Infections, Sydney Enters The Scariest Period

Illustration of COVID 19 in Sydney, Australia. (Kate Trifo/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The state of New South Wales (NSW) reported a double-digit rise in cases of COVID-19 infection via local transmission for the third day in a row, with officials trying to contain the spread of the Delta variant.

"Since the pandemic began, this is probably the scariest period New South Wales has experienced", said New South Wales Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian.

NSW has imposed strict restrictions on Sydney, Australia's largest city and home to a fifth of the country's 25 million population, with health officials saying transmission can occur even through minimal contact with an infected person.

NSW officials have so far resisted calls for a strict lockdown, although Australia has had a good track record of successfully suppressing outbreaks in the past through rapid lockdowns, strict social distancing rules, and rapid contact tracing.

Thanks to the measure, Australia has reported just under 30.400 cases of COVID-19 infection, with only 910 deaths since the pandemic began last year.

Berejiklian said that although the virus variant was highly contagious, the government was at this stage comfortable with the current level of restrictions.

Meanwhile, Western Australian State Prime Minister Mark McGowan urged NSW authorities to put the state on lockdown to destroy and kill the virus, warning that light touch restrictions could trigger a spike in infections.

Western Australia and a number of state policies anticipate this situation, by tightening rules at cross-border, to closing border areas.

Eleven new local cases were reported on Thursday, bringing the total infections in the latest outbreak to more than 40. Thursday's data includes six cases detected after 8 p.m.

The NSW State Parliament on Thursday released a limited list of politicians allowed into the assembly, after State Agriculture Secretary Adam Marshall tested positive for COVID-19 and Health Secretary Brad Hazzard was in isolation after he was considered a possible close contact of a positive case.

The state of Victoria, which borders NSW, on Thursday reported its first case possibly linked to the NSW outbreak, after a man in his 60s tested positive on his return from Sydney.

Separately, New Zealand reported no new local cases this Thursday, after yesterday raising the COVID-19 alert level in its capital Wellington on Wednesday 23 June, amid fears the city may have been exposed to the highly contagious Delta variant that has sparked a new outbreak.

Wellington raised the country's 'Alert Level 2' status, one notch below the lockdown, which was in effect until midnight on Sunday as a precaution, to curb a potential outbreak after an Australian tourist tested positive for COVID-19 while returning to Sydney from Wellington.