Sydney extends lockdown, imposes partial curfew

Around 1,000 defence force personnel are helping police implement restrictions, as weary residents increasingly bend the rules

Sydney is reporting more than 600 cases each day -- straining contact tracing efforts -- and that number shows little sign of shrinking

Sydney extended its two-month-old lockdown for another month and introduced a partial curfew Friday, as Australia's largest city struggled to contain a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. 

New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the "difficult" decision, telling the city's population of five million it was time to "bunker down". 

For much of the pandemic, Sydney saw very few virus cases. 

Stay-at-home orders will now remain in place across the city until the end of September and residents in virus hotspots will also be subject to a nighttime curfew and limited to one hour of outdoor exercise a day.

With the number of deaths rising steadily and the virus spreading to regional areas, Australia is racing to get jabs in arms.

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns about vulnerable Aboriginal communities in the New South Wales Outback, where the virus is now spreading.

A local health department spokesman told AFP officials were going door-to-door urging locals to get tested for the virus, while a sports field has been converted into a testing site.

New South Wales authorities are also facing growing anger from other Australian states, where the virus cases linked to the Sydney outbreak have emerged.

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