The Covid-19 Delta outbreak in Australia's biggest city Sydney has grown by 239 cases, the highest daily rise since the pandemic started, forcing authorities to increase police powers to shut down businesses not complying with lockdown measures, reports Reuters.
More than two million residents in eight Sydney hotspots will now be forced to wear masks outdoors and must stay within 5 kilometres of their homes.
Sydney is in its fifth week of an extended nine-week lockdown, which is scheduled to end August 28, but the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to grow.
