Sydney extends quarantine over delta strain: Do not leave home!
July 9, 2021

Australian authorities today urged Sydney residents to stay home, warning that a three-week lock-up could be extended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as they see the largest increase in new infections.
On the streets of Sydney, hundreds of police are monitoring whether a “lockdown” is being introduced to stop the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of the virus, which has so far infected more than 400 people.
“The state of New South Wales has faced the biggest challenge since the pandemic began,” Gladys Beredziklian, the prime minister of the state of Southeast Australia, told reporters. “Right now, the numbers are not moving in the right direction.
“Please do not leave your homes. Do not go out unless you are forced to,” Beredziklian said.
In New South Wales, 44 new cases have been reported today, up from 38 the previous day. A total of 43 people are currently being treated in hospitals and ten are in intensive care, four of them on respirators.
The number of cases increased despite the two-week lockout which was extended to the third week, until July 16.
Authorities will step up measures in Sydney tonight, and residents will be able to move within a 10km radius and no more than two people will be allowed to gather in public.
Beredziklian rejected all proposals to “live with the virus”, given the low vaccination coverage in Australia.
“If we choose to live with the virus while the vaccination rate is 9 percent, thousands and thousands of people will end up in hospitals and die,” she warned.
Although Australia has a relatively small number of infected people compared to many other developed countries, it is one of the slowest to get vaccinated.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today that from July 19, Pfizer will increase its supply of vaccines to about a million doses a week.
