Sydney Experiences Worst Day, Record Spike In Delta Variant COVID-19 Cases

Sydney, Australia COVID-19 illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Adam.JWC)

JAKARTA - The Australian state of New South Wales on Thursday reported its biggest daily rise in locally acquired COVID-19 cases so far in 2021.

New South Wales (NSW) reported 38 new local cases, up from 27 the day before, as the state with the capital Sydney prepares to enter a third week of lockdown.

"We don't want to extend the lockdown, we don't want to see Sydney or New South Wales go in and out of lockdown until most of our population is vaccinated," NSW Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

Berejiklian called on residents to limit visits to family, as data shows the virus spreads in such gatherings, urging people with flu symptoms to bring their entire family for COVID-19 tests due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

The prime minister vowed this would be the last lockdown Sydney will have to endure in the pandemic, even though only about 10 per cent of the country's total population has been fully vaccinated.

Of Thursday's cases, 26 were in isolation during or part of their infection period, while 11 spent time in the community while they were infectious. Another case is being investigated.

The total infections are approaching 400 amid the biggest outbreak of 2021 in the state, since the first case of a limousine driver on the outskirts of Bondi Beach carrying crew members of an overseas airline, was detected as infected about three weeks ago.

The Australian State Authority of New South Wales (NSW) decided Wednesday 7 July local time to extend Sydney's strict lockdown for a week.

This decision was taken in line with predictions that there will still be more cases of COVID-19 infection in the city, as it is struggling to deal with the highly contagious Delta variant.

Sydney, home to one-fifth of Australia's 25 million people, is under a strict two-week lockdown, from 26 June to Friday 9 July.

However, with today's decision, Sydney will be in lockdown until 16 July, to tighten surveillance, control the Delta variant and efforts to increase COVID-19 vaccinations.

"This Delta variant is a game changer, highly contagious and more infectious than any other form of the virus we've seen," Berejiklian said yesterday.

For information, launching Worldometers, as of Thursday 8 July Australia recorded a total of 30,903 cases of COVID-19 infection, with a death toll of 910 and a number of recovered patients reaching 29,466.