Coronavirus: Sydney struggles to stem Delta variant surge; chaos at Philippine vaccination sites over false news
- Australia’s largest city logged record 291 infections on Friday despite being in a weeks-long shutdown
- In the Philippines, false news spread on social media that unjabbed residents would be deprived of cash aid during the lockdown
“Just based on the trend in the last few days and where things are going, I am expecting higher case numbers in the next few days and I just want everyone to be prepared for that,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
New South Wales reported 291 locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Friday, most of them in Sydney, exceeding the previous daily high of 262 hit a day earlier. The state also registered one new death, raising the total to 22 in the latest outbreak, all in Sydney.
Of particular concern is the growing number of people positive with the highly infectious Delta strain moving around in the community, particularly in Sydney’s southwestern suburbs. Around one-fifth of Friday’s cases have spent time outside while infectious.
More than 60 per cent of Australia’s 25 million citizens are in hard lockdowns on Friday to try to contain latest surge, including the country’s three largest cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The fast-moving Delta strain is testing Australia’s largely successful handling of the coronavirus crisis that has kept its exposure relatively low with just over 35,600 cases and 933 deaths.