The news has settled in around Australia that Greater Sydney is now in lockdown for a minimum of 14 days from 06:00pm Saturday 26 June 2021 until midnight on 9 July 2021.
As the Delta strain continues to make waves through increasing community transmission in the Greater Sydney region, the lockdown was deemed necessary to curb further spread. In addition, regional NSW has been placed under new restrictions that include limits on household visitors and mandatory masks in indoor public settings.
Late yesterday afternoon, the Northern Territory announced a 48-hour snap lockdown for the local government areas of the City of Darwin, the City of Palmerston, and Litchfield , which may be extended, following the transmission of the Delta strain among workers in The Granites gold mine in the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory. A FiFo worker tested positive after flying in from Queensland and other workers and their close contacts have now been quarantined. The Northern Territory is trying to contact around 900 FiFo workers who were at the mine when the original worker was infectious and who have now returned home, some 200 of those to Darwin.
In Western Australia, Premier McGowan has announced a return to Tier One restrictions for the Perth-Peel region following community transmission traced back to a COVID-positive woman who had returned to Perth having dined at one of the NSW Exposure Sites, the Lyfe Cafe in Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
McGowan further announced that from 6:00pm last night (27 June 2021) the Western Australia borders are now closed to people travelling from the Northern Territory, Queensland and Victoria, in addition to the standing hard border order for NSW travellers.
Late last night, South Australia also made the announcement that it is shutting its borders to the ACT, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, in addition to NSW. Some restrictions still apply to people who have been in the Greater Melbourne area – check the SA Health website for updated information. Visitors from Tasmania will be allowed to enter the state without testing and mandatory quarantine requirements.
Queensland is also grappling with community transmission of the Alpha variant, following the positive result of an international flight attendant. Several exposure sites are now listed on the Queensland Health website and close contacts are urged to isolate and get tested.
The ACT has announced that face masks are now mandatory from midnight last night.
Victoria has declared the Northern Territory a Red Zone and designated Queensland and Perth as Orange Zones. Check the VIC Health website for latest updates.
