Sydney records deadliest day of COVID-19 pandemic, Melbourne lockdown extended

FILE PHOTO: Commuters wear protective face masks on public transit at Central Station following the implementation of new public health regulations from the state of New South Wales, as the city grapples with an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Sydney, Australia, June 23, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo

CANBERRA/SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's biggest city of Sydney recorded its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday as troops and police set up roadblocks to limit the movement of people, while Melbourne faced a nightly curfew and a further two weeks of lockdown.

Sydney, which is in its eighth week of lockdown, is the epicentre of Australia's third COVID-19 wave https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps that threatens to push the country's A$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy into its second recession in as many years.