Australian governments rush to accelerate reopening “roadmap” despite Delta outbreaks spreading Just days after the Australian “National Cabinet” announced a premature “roadmap” to end COVID-19 lockdowns, government leaders are laying out plans to further speed up the lifting of safety restrictions, even as outbreaks of the highly dangerous Delta variant continue to run out of control, threatening the populations of Sydney and Brisbane. The push is being spearheaded by New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian, despite her Liberal-National Coalition state government being directly responsible for the spread of the infections in Sydney. After five weeks of partial lockdowns, more than 200 new cases are still being reported daily, and the total number of cases since the outbreak began on June 16 exceeds 4,000.