SYDNEY -- Australia’s most populous state reported a record 633 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday as concerns grew about the delta variant's spread beyond Sydney. Three people died on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from the outbreak first detected in Sydney in mid-June to 60. Sydney has been in lockdown since June 26 and the entire state has been locked down since Saturday. In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:— The first outbreak in six months in New Zealand has grown to seven people. That came after the government on Tuesday imposed a strict lockdown of at least three days for the entire country and at least seven days in Auckland and Coromandel after identifying the first infection.

Source: ABC News August 18, 2021 02:37 UTC