Australian officials extended lockdown and social distancing measures to more of the country, with four major cities already under a hard lockdown in a race to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant.
Around one in two Australians are under stay-at-home orders, with millions of others subjected to movement curbs and mandatory mask-wearing amid Covid-19 flare-ups in several locations.
With more than five million residents of greater Sydney under a two-week lockdown until 9 July, New South Wales state reported 22 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases today, all linked to prior infections.