- Title: Sydney tightens lockdown as Australia's COVID-19 cases rise
- Date: 17th July 2021
- Summary: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JULY 16, 2021) (REUTERS) LIMITED TRAFFIC ON PRINCES BRIDGE TRAM CROSSING BRIDGE PERSON RIDING BIKE AND ANOTHER PERSON RUNNING OVER BRIDGE
- Embargoed: 31st July 2021 07:46
- Keywords: Australia COVID-19 Delta Melbourne New South Wales Sydney Victoria cluster coronavirus lockdown outbreak pandemic spread testing
- Location: SYDNEY, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
- City: SYDNEY, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Australia,Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA007EM88G93
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Australian city of Sydney on Saturday (July 17) ordered a shutdown of building sites, banned non-essential retail, and threatened fines for employers who make staff come into the office as new COVID-19 cases kept rising three weeks into a citywide lockdown.
Authorities in New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, also banned hundreds of thousands of people in the city's western suburbs - the worst affected area - from leaving their immediate neighbourhoods for work, as they recorded 111 new cases in the prior 24 hours, up from 97 the day before. The state also recorded an additional death from the virus, taking the total to three since the start of the year and the national total to 913 since the pandemic began.
The city of 5 million people, Australia's largest, has been under lockdown since June 26, with a planned end date of July 30, after an airport transit driver brought the virus into the community and sparked an outbreak of the highly infectious variant, according to the authorities. More than 1,000 people in the city and surrounding districts have since tested positive. Of most concern to health leaders is the number of infectious people who are active in the community, which remained at 29 on Saturday, in line with previous days.
Stores that can remain open in Sydney include supermarkets, pharmacies, and hardware outlets. All building work must stop until the July 30 deadline including cleaning, property maintenance, and home renovation, authorities said. People who lived in three of Sydney's local government districts - with a total population of 612,000 - were banned from leaving their district for work unless they were emergency workers. The city already has a working from home directive for businesses, but employers who told staff to attend the office would be fined A$10,000 ($7,402.00), they said.
Neighbouring Victoria state also reported a jump in daily COVID-19 cases to 19, from six the previous day, raising fears it may extend a short lockdown that was scheduled to end on Tuesday (July 20).
(Production: Sandra Sanders, James Redmayne) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None