The Australian COVID-19 Response Team is holding an urgent meeting during the outbreak

A pedestrian crosses an empty intersection during morning commute time in the city center during a lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Sydney, Australia on June 28, 2021. REUTERS / Loren Elliott

• Treasurer Says Australia Is Facing a “Critical Time”
• NSW warns that cases could increase “significantly”
• Queensland tightened restrictions

SYDNEY, June 28 (Reuters) – Australia’s COVID-19 Response Committee will hold an emergency meeting on Monday as outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant across the country resulted in a lockdown in Sydney and renewed restrictions elsewhere.

Around 18 million Australians, or around 70% of the population, are currently under some form of lockdown or COVID-related restrictions as officials in almost every state or territory grapple with COVID-19 outbreaks.

“I think we are entering a new phase of this pandemic with the more contagious Delta Tribe,” Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corp on Monday, adding that Australia is facing a “critical time” in its fight against COVID-19 stand

The National Security Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, will be briefed by the country’s chief doctor later on Monday, Frydenberg said.

Sydney, Australia’s most populous city and home to a fifth of Australia’s 25 million, was slipped into a two-week lockdown over the weekend.

On Monday, 18 new local cases were reported in the state of New South Wales, up from 30 a day earlier, bringing the total infections in the most recent outbreak to 130 since the first case was discovered almost two weeks ago in a limo driver transporting a foreign airline Crew.

“We have to be prepared for the numbers to fluctuate and we have to be prepared for the numbers to rise significantly,” Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in the state capital, Sydney.

“With this variety we see almost 100% transmission within the households.”

The northern city of Darwin entered a two-day lockdown on Sunday, triggered by the discovery of the Delta variant of the virus – regardless of the Sydney outbreak – in a fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) gold miner after he exited the Facility.

The state of Queensland reintroduced mask requirements and limited house gatherings in several areas, including state capital Brisbane, on Monday after Western Australian officials took a similar move on behalf of state capital Perth. Restrictions remain in place in the state capital of Victoria, Melbourne, and in the state capital, Canberra.

A health warning was issued to hundreds of passengers over the weekend after an infected Virgin Australia cabin crew worked on five different flights to Brisbane, Melbourne and Gold Coast.

Australia has fared much better than many other developed countries in fighting the spread of the coronavirus, with just over 30,450 cases and 910 deaths.

Bans, strict social distancing rules, and quick contact tracing have helped the country successfully suppress previous outbreaks, but the fast-paced Delta variant has alerted health officials.

Reporting by Renju Jose and Byron Kaye; Editing by Jane Wardell

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