Overview briefs: Australia and Asia --Reuters

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Reuters Reuters

 --Sydney daily cases hit record high: Hundreds more defence personnel will deploy next week to Sydney to help enforce the city's lockdown after authorities on Friday reported the biggest daily rise in COVID-19 cases from an outbreak which is spreading beyond Australia's largest city. ...

-- The Philippines reported on Friday its second-largest daily increase in infections, providing more evidence of how the Delta variant may be spreading and ramping up pressure on the country's already stretched healthcare system.

Hundreds of hospitals in the country are nearing full capacity, with some facilities reporting they have run out of intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients.

---Thailand could see coronavirus cases double to 45,000 per day by early next month, even with current lockdown measures in place, its COVID-19 taskforce said on Friday, as authorities urged people to stay home. ...

-- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday urged people to refrain from travelling as cases spiked to new records in Tokyo and nationwide, heaping pressure on the medical system. ...