Australia Covid live update: ACT outbreak grows as NSW health system groans under pressure

In addition to the Covid updates we’re expecting from state premiers, we also have a national cabinet meeting to look forward to.

With parts of NSW, Queensland, the ACT and Victoria all under lockdown, the spotlight will be on vaccination rates and the race to 70%.

Good morning everyone, Mostafa Rachwani here to bring you this morning’s news.

We begin in Canberra, which is waking up to its first full day of lockdown in more than a year, joining Sydney and Melbourne. The capital went into lockdown after recording four new positive cases yesterday.

Hundreds of students at the Australian National University have been deemed close contacts, with students across eight residence halls now in isolation.

The resulting restrictions have thrown parliamentary sittings into limbo – we’ll bring you all the updates as they come in.

In Sydney, three more LGAs – Bayside, Burwood and Strathfield – were put under tighter restrictions, after NSW again recorded more than 300 cases.

The ongoing outbreak has left the hospital network under “significant strain”.

In Melbourne, mystery cases continue to flummox authorities, with health authorities racing to find the source of a cluster of cases, after recording 21 yesterday.

And Queensland recorded 10 new cases yesterday, with the premier warning residents not to travel to NSW and risk spreading the Delta variant.

Stay tuned throughout the morning for Covid updates from states across the country.