The Informer: Sydney's lockdown expands as Covid cluster grows

On Saturday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that current stay-at-home orders will be extended across all of Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong from 6pm on Saturday until 11.59pm on July 9.

It comes after updated health advice from Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant about the growing risk to the community.

Everyone in Greater Sydney must stay at home unless it is for an essential reason.

The reasons you may leave your home include:

The list of exposure sites now includes venues in the northern beaches, Lakemba and Auburn, and another two train routes.

About 29 cases were recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, 17 of which had already been announced, taking the Bondi cluster to 82 cases.

Meanwhile Victoria has recorded one new locally acquired case and three new overseas cases - the latter are in hotel quarantine.

Vaccination rates would now need to double for the rollout program to be completed by year's end following the latest outbreak in Bondi.

A report by Capital Economics shows just 4 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.

In environment news, the scientific evidence about the Great Barrier Reef's decline was so definitive that an in-person inspection was not needed to conclude it was endangered, UNESCO has said.

Officials said an inspection would not have changed their view that climate change was driving the reef's decline and it might not survive if global temperatures exceeded the Paris Agreement goals.

The Australian Government has vowed to challenge the recommendation before UNESCO's World Heritage Committee meets in July to make a final ruling.

Staying with environment, Australian National University climate scientist Professor Nerilie Abram is one of 14 people from around the world that will form the international Climate Change Advisory Group, which will aim to provide expert advice to global leaders and policymakers.

Ms Abram is the only Australian on the panel.

Police have marked the 10^th birthday of William Tyrrell as investigations continue into his disappearance nearly seven years ago.

The three-year-old boy, dressed in a Spider Man outfit, vanished while playing in the garden of his foster grandmother's home in the small NSW mid north coast town of Kendall shortly before 10.30am on September 12, 2014.

In other police news, a Sydney man is the latest to be nabbed in the "sting of the century" after he was allegedly caught orchestrating the import of $64 million in cocaine via a fruit juice tanker ship.

The 41 year old was arrested as part of Operation Ironside, which has uncovered murder plots, weapon purchases and mass drug trafficking thanks to an encrypted online platform secretly overseen by the US FBI.

Overseas, authorities are urgently trying to determine if any Australians were caught up in a horrifying building collapse in Florida amid reports a couple from Melbourne is missing.

Rescue crews are searching for survivors after an entire side of the 12-storey building in the Miami community of Surfside gave way while residents were asleep.

It's that time of the year again - tax returns. Experts have made last calls for people to maximise their returns as this year, like 2020, is no simple task because of Covid.

There are numerous Covid-related factors to consider, including the ATO's "home claim shortcut" that's worth $1664 in potential deductions.

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*This edition of The Informer was written by Canberra Times reporter Toby Vue. 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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