Sydney, Australia, begins two-week COVID lockdown

Sydney, Australia, on Saturday night began a two-week lockdown amid a surge in cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it was "the scariest time that I felt since the pandemic started," as she announced the lockdown and associated stay-at-home orders for Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong. The new restrictions follow smaller lockdowns in parts of the city that began Friday in an effort to stem an outbreak of the highly contagious variant.