Daily Lankadeepa E-Paper

Australia’s east coast battles rising COVID-19 cases

MELBOURNE, AUG 1 (REUTERS)Australia’s east coast states of New South Wales and Queensland faced an escalating battle against the COVID-19 Delta variant on Sunday, with millions under strict lockdown and authorities urging more testing and vaccinations to rein in the outbreaks.

Sydney and its surroundings, under a stayat-home order for five weeks already, reported 239 new locally acquired cases of the highly infectious Delta strain, matching the record daily number in the current outbreak that was reported on Thursday.

The city’s 5 million residents and those in neighbouring regional centres spanning 200 km (120 miles) of coastline are to stay home until Aug. 28 at least. The total number of cases in the outbreak, which began in midjune, has reached 3,427.

“I think what is important to know is that there is no roadmap for the Delta variant,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

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2021-08-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailylankadeepa.pressreader.com/article/281758452332170

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