Australia's Victoria logs biggest daily rise in COVID-19 cases in a week

Australia's Victoria state reported the biggest daily rise in locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in more than a week on Wednesday, the first day of an extended lockdown to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta virus variant.

Twenty-two local cases have been detected in Victoria, up from nine a day earlier. All new cases are linked to the current outbreak, the state health department said.

Victoria officials on Tuesday decided to prolong the strict stay-home orders in the state by seven days until July 27.