FRESH HELL

Sydney Extends COVID-19 Lockdown by Four Weeks

The Australian city of five million people has seen a drastic uptick in new cases after several mass events and an airport superspreader.

The city of Sydney, Australia, has extended its latest lockdown by four weeks after a number of COVID-19 case clusters emerged, including a wake attended by 50 people that produced 45 new infections. The clampdown comes amid increasing frustration and protests in and around the city of five million. The new regulations will require people to stay home until Aug. 28. “I am as upset and frustrated as all of you that we were not able to get the case numbers we would have liked at this point in time, but that is the reality,” state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Wednesday. “We cannot put up with people continuing to do the wrong thing because it is setting us all back.” The new spike has been blamed in part by an unmasked, unvaccinated airport driver who became a superspreader.