Sydney COVID-19 lockdown extended for a further week, cases on the rise

SYDNEY, July 7 (Reuters) – The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) on Wednesday extended a two-week COVID-19 lockdown in the state capital Sydney to contain the latest outbreak of the highly infectious variant of the delta.

Stay-at-home orders, which were due to end on Friday, will now expire on July 16, NSW State Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

Twenty-seven new locally acquired COVID-19 cases were reported in New South Wales, up from 18 a day earlier, bringing the total number of infections in the outbreak to more than 350.

Report by Renju José; Editing by Christopher Cushing

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