COVID-19 has tightened its grip on one of Australia's biggest cities with no significant drop in case numbers after weeks of lockdown.
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There were 105 new cases of community-transmitted Covid, and one death, announced in NSW on Sunday.
Harsher restrictions have been imposed on parts of Sydney, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned it could take some time for those measures to take effect.
"We are throwing everything at this, we want to come out of this lockdown as soon as possible," she said.
The majority of Sunday's cases are concentrated in southwestern Sydney, with 69 found in the Fairfield local government area.
However Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said residents had to be vigilant no matter where they were in Greater Sydney.
"Every time you leave your house, it is critical that you assume you are coming into contact with Covid," she said.
Meanwhile, tensions are continuing to flare around the arrival of far-right British commentator and reality television contestant Katie Hopkins.
Ms Hopkins' visa status is being reviewed after she posted a video in which she boasted about scaring hotel workers while not wearing a mask.
The evolving situation gave Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce a chance to drum up one of his older hits, recalling his time as agriculture minister when asked about the commentator's behaviour.
"I'm the one who wanted to send home Johnny Depp's dogs," Mr Joyce said on Insiders.
"So I have no problem sending home someone who wants to flout our laws. If you want to do that, pack your bongo and get out of the country."
Perhaps it was a Joycean way of saying "beat it".
Abroad, firefighters are battling blazes along western US prompting mass evacuations.
The Tamarack Fire, which was sparked by lightning on July 4, exploded overnight and was over 80 square kilometres as of Saturday evening, according to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
The National Weather Service warned of possible thunderstorms stretching from the California coast to northern Montana on Sunday and that "new lightning ignitions" are likely because of extremely dry fuels across the West.
Firefighters said in July they were facing conditions more typical of late summer or autumn.
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*This edition of The Informer was written by Canberra Times producer Jacob McArthur. If you'd like to show your support for the team behind The Informer, why not forward us to a friend?
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