Covid-19: Sydney posts fresh virus record as Melbourne races to trace outbreak

Sydney - Health Minister Brad Hazzard expresses frustration as people ignore lockdown restrictions.

Australia's state of New South Wales reported another record day of Covid-19 cases Saturday, as authorities in the country's second city of Melbourne rushed to trace the source of its outbreaks.

Australia's three largest cities were in lockdown on Saturday, as New South Wales recorded 319 community cases of the virus and five more deaths -- a third straight day of record case numbers.

With the virus continuing to spread through Sydney's sprawling suburbs, despite the city heading into its seventh week of lockdown, state Health Minister Brad Hazzard expressed frustration that people appeared to be ignoring restrictions and urged residents to stay at home.

"That is the biggest thing you can do for all of us and for yourself, to make sure that we beat this Delta virus that is wreaking havoc across the world," Hazzard told media.

He also announced that the city of Armidale, about six hours' drive northwest of Sydney, would join around 60 percent of Australia's 25 million residents already under stay-at-home orders.

The nation managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic for the past 18 months, but the effectiveness of its "Covid zero" policy had been called into question as lockdowns struggle to stamp out the highly-infection Delta variant.