Sydney COVID-19 cases set to rise, hospitals under pressure
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COVID-19 cases are set to “rise substantially” in Sydney in the coming weeks despite a prolonged lockdown, authorities said on Tuesday, warning soaring infections have already put hospitals under enormous strain.
Australia, once a world leader in curtailing COVID-19, is struggling to suppress a third wave of infections driven by the highly infectious Delta variant despite locking down more than half its population.
New South Wales (NSW) state, whose capital Sydney is the epicentre of the latest outbreak, reported 452 cases in the past 24 hours, the third-biggest one-day jump, and one new death.
“We envisage that case numbers in the next two or three weeks will bounce around and are likely to rise substantially,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.
Sydney has already toughened restrictions, including setting up roadblocks in parts of the city, and has hiked fines amid reports of people flouting strict stay-at-home orders.
Economists fear the lockdowns may drive the country’s A$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy into a second recession in as many years, although Australia’s central bank stands ready to take policy action, minutes from its August meeting showed on Tuesday.
