SYDNEY: Sydney extended its two-month-old lockdown for another month and introduced a partial curfew Friday, as Australia’s largest city struggled to contain a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak.
New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the “difficult” decision, telling the city’s population of five million it was time to “bunker down”.
“Unfortunately the case numbers continue to grow,” she said. “This is what life will look like for most of us until the end of September.”
For much of the pandemic, Sydney saw very few virus cases.
But the city is now reporting more than 600 cases each day — straining contact tracing efforts — and that number shows little sign of shrinking.
Stay-at-home orders will now remain in place across the city until the end of September and residents in virus hotspots will also be subject to a nighttime curfew and limited to one hour of outdoor exercise a day.