Millions of Sydney residents have woken up to the first full day of a two-week coronavirus lockdown, as Australia tries to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Restaurants, bars and cafes were shuttered after stay-at-home orders for central neighbourhoods were extended across Sydney and to the coastal and mountainous regions surrounding the sprawling city.
More than 110 Covid-19 cases have been reported since a driver for an international flight crew tested positive in mid-June to the highly contagious Delta variant, which first emerged in India, according to an AFP report.
“Given how contagious this strain of the virus is, we do anticipate that in the next few days case numbers are likely to increase even beyond what we have seen today,” state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.