MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Coronavirus lockdowns are likely to be lifted in two major Australian cities this week, authorities said Monday, as outbreaks of the Delta variant were brought under control. Around half of Australia’s 25 million largely unvaccinated residents are currently under stay-at-home orders. But while the largest city Sydney struggled to bring its outbreak to heel, the states of Victoria and South Australia reported progress. South Australia premier Steven Marshall said Monday that […]

by Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sydney’s five million residents will be in virus lockdown for at least another two weeks, state premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday, rejecting calls to tighten restrictions further. Australia’s largest city is already in its third week of a partial lockdown and struggling to bring a fast-spreading outbreak of the coronavirus Delta variant under control. In the past 24 hours, 97 new cases were recorded, more than the […]

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian apartment block was placed under strict lockdown with police posted outside Tuesday, as authorities stepped up efforts to curb a fast-growing coronavirus outbreak. Police guarded both the front and rear exits of an apartment block in Sydney’s Bondi neighborhood, where nine people have tested positive for Covid-19, with movement in and out of the building restricted. A sign taped to one apartment window read “Send Beer” while another asked, […]

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia announced its first coronavirus-related death in the current Sydney virus outbreak on Sunday, as the country’s biggest city struggles to bring the Delta variant under control. The woman in her 90s died Saturday, hours after testing positive for Covid-19, and was also the first death from a locally-acquired infection in Australia this year. It came as authorities announced a record 77 new cases, and warned that numbers were expected to […]