Delta Cases Surge Across Australia and New Zealand, 600 Infected in Just 4 Days

The first detected outbreak of COVID-19 delta variant in Sydney has spread to Melbourne, and an Australian state leader fears that the nation's second-most populous city has lost control in battling its worst covid-19 outbreak yet.

In the last four days, Sydney, Australia's largest city has reported over 600 new infections. Its first Delta variant outbreak was detected in mid-June. As it spread its way to Melbourne, it has also 'seeded' New Zealand's first outbreak in nearly six months.

Although lockdowns in neighboring cities undeniably help contain the COVID virus and worked out in the first half of 2021, it was a game-changer for the Delta variant. Despite implementing the same lockdown protocols, testing, contact tracing, and isolating strategies that were effective in containing previous outbreaks, experts say there are several reasons why case numbers aren't going down this time. Among them is the 'greater transmissibility' of the delta variant compared with earlier variants.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said he is losing hope of containing the latest outbreak in Melbourne, which was detected on its sixth lockdown on August 5.

Reports of new community infections

According to Andrews, the newest patients were infectious before they began isolating. As of Friday, Victoria announces 55 new infections. Andrews said it is a bad day for the state.

"We are right on the edge of this getting away from us and it's not because contact tracing aren't doing everything they can; they are. It's not because we didn't lock down fast enough; we did," Andrews said.

"It's this delta variant. It's so wildly infectious it will find every breach of every rule and it will potentially spread because of that," he added.

For comparison, Melbourne only started its suppression strategy when cases of previous outbreak reached 725 in a day on August last year, yet they were able to eliminate the infections in October down to zero.

New Zealand implements new restrictions

Meanwhile, in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland, the virus was first detected and has spread to its capital, Wellington, after three people returned from visiting Auckland tested positive. The outbreak has grown to 31 cases, with patients being 'unknowingly infectious' while being treated.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday she is determined to eliminate the new outbreak, and immediately put the entire nation in strict lockdown on Tuesday. It was found through genome testing that the outbreak was linked to an infected traveler from Sydney earlier this month, but authorities are confused how the virus escaped despite quarantine.

New Zealand's lockdown will last until at least next Tuesday, while Sydney's was extended through September on Friday.

New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the key to easing the city's pandemic restrictions is to increase vaccination rates. "I don't want us to ever look back and say we didn't try, we didn't put everything into this," Berejiklian said.