Sydney records deadliest day of Covid, Melbourne lockdown extended
Australia's biggest city of Sydney recorded its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday (Aug 16), while residents in Melbourne face a nightly curfew and a further two weeks of lockdown amid a surge in infections.Sydney, which is in its eighth week of lockdown, is the epicenter of Australia's third COVID-19 wave that threatens to push the country's A$2 trillion (US$1.5 trillion) economy into its second recession in as many years.
New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said seven people had died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing the state's previous record day from earlier this month. Berejiklian said New South Wales has also detected 478 infections, the highest one-day rise since the pandemic begun. "Our community transmission numbers are disturbingly high," Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. "
Every death is a person who has loved ones, who has died in tragic circumstances and our heartfelt condolences to all of those loved ones and families." Authorities also confirmed the death of a 15-year-old boy from Sydney, who had pneumococcal meningitis and COVID-19.The toll was announced as 200 military personnel were deployed across Sydney to set up roadblocks to enforce restrictions of movement. Australia last month deployed 500 troops to help New South Wales.
With only 26 per cent of people above 16 years of age fully vaccinated, Australia is vulnerable to the highly infectious Delta variant that has steadily spread across the country. While Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Darwin - which begun its curbs on Monday - are all in lockdown, cases have proved stubbornly difficult to suppress.Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said Melbourne will now remain in a lockdown until Sep 2 after recording 22 new COVID-19 cases. Melbourne's 5 million residents will also be subjected to a nightly curfew.
