Sydney imposes nightly curfew as Australia battles Delta outbreak

SYDNEY/CANBERRA, (Reuters) 20 Aug 2021  - Two million residents of Sydney will be under nightly curfew from next week to slow the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus that is spreading across New South Wales state, authorities said on Friday as they extended lockdown orders.

Australia’s third wave of COVID-19 infections, centred on Sydney, has forced more than half the population of nearly 26 million into lockdown and pushed the world’s 13th-largest economy to the brink of its second recession in as many years.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian extended Sydney’s lockdown until the end of September and imposed new restrictions including the curfew, a requirement to wear a mask when outside and limits on exercise.