Sydney on lockdown for two weeks due to an outbreak of the Delta variant of Coronavirus

The Australian authorities have announced the confinement of the Sydney region, including the metropolitan area, until next July 9 due to the appearance of a coronavirus outbreak associated with the Delta variant, identified for the first time in India and characterized by its high rate of contagions.

Strict stay-at-home orders will apply to all residents of the Greater Sydney region, including the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong starting at 6pm on Saturday.

All residents must stay home except to purchase essential items, medical necessities, exercise outdoors in groups of ten or less, or perform work or studies deemed important.

Weddings will not be allowed after 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, while funerals will be limited to one person for every four square meters, with a limit of 100 people. The masks will be mandatory indoors, in accordance with the new regulations collected by the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.

At the center of the outbreak, which has now reached 80 cases, is the driver of a limousine whose passengers included crew members of international airlines.

The driver allegedly violated the rule of wearing a mandatory mask to serve his customers arriving in New South Wales. The Australian State Police, in any event, have announced that they have no intention of recommending charges against him to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Australia has confirmed some 30,400 coronavirus cases and 910 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Likewise, 6,860,276 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with which 1,105,508 people in the country are fully immunized.