Covid cases climb in Australia's most populous states

Canberra, July 19 Australia's most populous states along the east coast are struggling with the unabated spike in new Covid-19 cases as the country's two biggest cities have plunged into lockdown.

As Sydney prepares for its fourth week in lockdown, the state of New South Wales (NSW) has so far reported 1,026 cases amid the new outbreak, reports Xinhua news agency.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian raised concern over 29 cases that were in the community, telling residents to expect a spike over the weekend.

"I am assuming, because in the last 24 hours at least 29 of those 97 cases were infectious in the community, the numbers tomorrow will be greater than what we saw today... There is no doubt the numbers are not where we would like them," she said on Sunday.

Berejiklian also said the authorities will not hesitate to "go harder" if current restrictions fail to curb the numbers.

Meanwhile, the state of Victoria on July 16 recorded 10 new local cases at the first day of a five-day snap lockdown on the city of Melbourne, of which four were already announced the previous day.

Melbourne's lockdown will see stricter restrictions than Sydney, allowing only five reasons to leave home to shop for food and essential items; provide or receive care; exercise, work or study if they are unable to from home; and to get vaccinated.

After confirming support from the federal government, Victoria announced upport payments of A$200 million to help impacted businesses through the lockdown.

The state of Queensland has declared Victoria as a Covid-19 hotspot and shut its border.

Queensland also recorded one new local case in hotel quarantine, who was thought to be "zero risk" to the community, but the authorities already detected two outbreaks of the highly infectious Delta variant in the state's southeast and warned the residents to take the virus "extraordinarily seriously".

The government has already extended restrictions including mask-wearing on parts of southeast Queensland for one more week.