Australia Races To Stem COVID-19 Outbreaks In Sydney, Melbourne

Total COVID-19 cases since the first was detected in mid-June, in a Sydney limousine driver transporting overseas airline crews, now stand at more than 1,000.

Australian officials urged people to obey lockdown measures that cover around 40% of the country's population as an outbreak of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant again picked up pace on Friday. Daily new infections in New South Wales, where the outbreak began about a month ago, rose after a dip a day earlier, while new cases across the border in Victoria remained steady. Total infections since the first was detected in mid-June, in a Sydney limousine driver transporting overseas airline crews, now stand at more than 1,000. Despite Sydney heading into its fourth week of lockdown, New South Wales officials recorded 97 new locally acquired cases, up from 65 on Thursday.