Sydney's COVID-19 cases ease but lockdown extension still looms

A dog chases a ball at a popular city lookout spot in front of the Crown Sydney skyscraper during a lockdown to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Sydney, Australia, July 12, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian authorities reported a slight slowdown in new COVID-19 cases in Sydney on Tuesday, but left open the possibility of extending a lockdown in the country's largest city to douse an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant.

New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the harbour city's more than 5 million residents not to become complacent as she reported 89 new locally transmitted cases, down from Monday's record high for the year of 112 infections.