Sydney warned worse to come as Delta cases surge

SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters)  - Sydney’s Delta outbreak has not peaked and residents must brace for more deaths, authorities said on Wednesday, as Australia’s largest city continued to break records for new daily infections despite a nearly two-month lockdown.

NSW reported its biggest daily rise of 633 new cases, including 545 in Sydney, eclipsing the state’s previous daily high of 478 hit on Monday. Sixty people have died since the first Delta case was reported in Sydney on June 16, including three confirmed on Wednesday.

With only about 28% of people in NSW above 16 years of age fully vaccinated, state Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant warned there would be more deaths if cases continued to rise.

Australia is in the grip of a third wave of infections that has exposed weaknesses in the country’s vaccine rollout and forced more than half of its 25 million people into lockdown.