New South Wales has recorded 646 locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the previous 24 hours amid concerns a new strain of the Delta variant could be circulating around Sydney.
“Also, we’ve been having a program throughout this response to the pandemic around genome sequencing, and those investigations have identified a strain of Delta which is different genome sequencing to the current strain circulating in Sydney,” Dr Chant said.
“There’s no indication that this new strain presents any differences regarding transmission or vaccine effectiveness or severity.”
Dr Chant said eight of the state’s cases have been identified with this new strain, seven of which belong to the same household.
“We’re undertaking investigations into the source and how the transmission occurred, and we’ll update you when any information is available.”
