Greater Sydney lockdown extended by at least four weeks as NSW records 177 new local COVID-19 cases

The Greater Sydney lockdown will be extended by at least four more weeks, as the state recorded 177 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and a further death.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the lockdown will be extended to 28 August.

“It was fairly obvious, given the way the numbers were going in the last few days, it would have not been possible for us to get out of lockdown tomorrow or Friday,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

It comes as the state recorded 177 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday out of over 94,500 tests.

Of the new infections, at least 68 of those were infectious in the community for all or part of their infectious period while the isolation status of 62 cases remains under investigation.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said an unvaccinated woman in her 90s with the virus died overnight at Liverpool Hospital, taking the state’s toll linked to the current outbreak to 11. Dr Chant said the woman’s death was not linked to a reported outbreak at the hospital.

There are currently 165 COGVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 56 people in intensive care, 22 of whom require ventilation.

The extension will see the lockdown through to nine weeks after the city first entered the severe restrictions.