Australian military to assist Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak

Sydney, Australia's largest city, is into its sixth week of a lockdown as it struggles with a spike in infections that added nearly 3,500 cases since the first one was detected in a limousine driver who transported overseas airline crew.

Officials in New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, have implored residents to stay home to prevent more surges and brought in the military to help police enforce compliance after some defied lockdown rules.

Some 300 army personnel, who will be unarmed and under police command, will go door to door to ensure people who have tested positive are isolating at their homes.

Australia is going through a cycle of stop-and-start lockdowns in several cities after the emergence of the fast-moving Delta strain and such restrictions are likely to persist until the country hits a higher vaccination coverage.