Covid: Sydney extends lockdown and puts two million under curfew

A lockdown of Australia's largest city Sydney has been extended to the end of September as authorities struggle to contain a wave of Delta cases.

The city's five million residents have been under stay-at-home orders since late June.

Infections have more than doubled in the past week. There were 642 new cases on Friday, after 681 on Thursday.

From Monday, two million residents in the city's worst-hit suburbs will live under a daily curfew from 21.00-05.00.

"I apologise to the vast majority of people in those communities who are doing the right thing but for our health and safety moving forward we need to make these difficult decisions," said New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Australia set a record on Thursday for its highest daily infections since the pandemic began.