Melbourne extends COVID lockdown; 'no jab, no job' in Sydney

FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers administer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) tests at a drive-through testing centre on the first day of a seven-day lockdown, as the state of Victoria looks to curb the spread of an outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, May 28, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders

CANBERRA (Reuters) -Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne will stay locked down for a second week after reporting 20 new COVID-19 cases as it struggles to stamp out infections caused by the highly infectious Delta variant of the pandemic.

Melbourne had been due to exit the lockdown on Thursday, the sixth for its five million people in stop-start battles against the coronavirus also seen elsewhere across the country have triggered frustration and discord https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/we-are-not-virus-two-tier-delta-lockdowns-divide-sydney-2021-08-10. In Sydney police are stepping up lockdown enforcement, while some labourers are being allowed to return to construction sites - if vaccinated.