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Coronavirus live blog: Lockdowns start to lift but Australia still battles Delta variant

Headshot of Miriam Fisher
Miriam FisherThe West Australian
Premiers Mark McGowan, Annastasia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian.
Camera IconPremiers Mark McGowan, Annastasia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian.

More than two million West Australians were freed from lockdown overnight despite one new local coronavirus case being detected yesterday.

Premier Mark McGowan on Friday confirmed the four-day lockdown in Perth and the Peel region would end as scheduled at 12.01am.

The State woke to news this morning there were zero new cases reported in the 24-hour period since, putting the affected regions on track to continue the staged step down of restrictions.

NSW, however, recorded 35 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 overnight, with 35 new exposure sites identified by the State’s health department.

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Meanwhile, Queensland’s recorded five new COVID cases. Despite the good news Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stressed: “We are not out of the woods yet.”

The Northern Territory reported zero new cases of COVID-19 today, as residents woke to their first day free of lockdown after an outbreak at a central Australian mine brought the Top End to a standstill for a week.

Victoria recorded a third-straight day of zero new cases of COVID-19 overnight.

It comes after Premier Daniel Andrews called for arrivals caps, saying it was better to lock Australians out than lock them down.

Australia will reduce its cap on arrivals from 6000 to 3000 passengers a week by July 14 to reduce pressure on hotel quarantine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said after a national cabinet meeting with State and Territory leaders yesterday.

To follow today’s updates on COVID-19, read our live blog below. Hit refresh on your browser if the blog does not load.

A recap of yesterday’s events can be read here.

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