Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane and other parts of Queensland state will enter a snap Covid lockdown from Saturday as authorities race to contain an emerging outbreak of the Delta strain.
Millions of residents in the city and several other areas will be placed under stay-at-home orders from Saturday afternoon for three days, state Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.
"The only way to beat the Delta strain is to move quickly, to be fast and to be strong," Miles said.
There were now seven cases of the Delta strain of the coronavirus in Queensland mainly linked to a school student, her family and a tutor, but authorities were still trying to trace the source of the outbreak, Miles said.
In the "strictest lockdown" the city has enforced, residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for essential reasons including buying groceries and exercising.
Brisbane's snap lockdown comes as Australia's largest city of Sydney and its surroundings completed its fifth week of lockdown with authorities struggling to stop the spread of a Delta-variant outbreak.
"We cannot afford to be complacent just because we have done so well so far. We all we have to comply with these restrictions," Miles said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Covid-19 Still Driving High Mortality Rate In This Country Watch: Australia And England Stars Combine For A Sensational Relay Catch In BBL Final Brisbane Heat Crush Sydney Sixers To Win Australia's Big Bash League Final Nurse Raped, Killed On Way Home, Body Found 9 Days Later In UP "Don't Expect Anything From Me": Kolkata Hospital's New Principal Loses Cool "Took Advantage Of His Addiction": 5 Charged Over Matthew Perry's Death Ukraine, Russia Both Claim Advances In Kursk Region Gaza Ceasefire Talks Underway In Qatar As Deaths Top 40,000 Trump To Hold Press Conference, His Campaign Adds Senior Advisers Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.