Australia reported its first coronavirus-related death of the year on Sunday and a 2021 record 77 new cases of the virus in the state of New South Wales, which is battling an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.
The authorities said a woman, in her 90s, died in Sydney. She had contracted the virus in a family setting.
There are 52 cases in hospital, or about one in 10 people infected in the current outbreak. Fifteen people are in intensive care, five require ventilation.
Sydney is currently in lockdown, as Australia’s largest city fights to contain the highly transmissible Delta strain of the virus.
The reported death is the state’s 57th and the first in 10 months. (Reuters)
