MICK TSIKAS
Several people tested positive there after a miner suspected of being infected while staying overnight in a quarantine hotel on the east coast. Almost 200 people are now in isolation.
A two-week lockdown has been in effect in the metropolis of Sydney and the surrounding regions since Saturday. With a few exceptions, residents have to stay at home. The reason is the delta variant, which was first discovered in India and is considered to be particularly contagious. The head of government of the state of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, expects the situation to worsen. In New South Wales, the number of locally transmitted cases rose from seven to more than a hundred in one week.
The authorities also ordered restrictions for the Western Australian city of Perth. Contact restrictions and a mask requirement have been in effect there for three days since Sunday. Previously, a woman from Perth had tested positive after a trip to Sydney. In the country with around 25 million inhabitants, the authorities have so far reported more than 30,000 infections. 910 people died with the virus.