Harsher lockdown looms for Sydney with 111 new cases and a crackdown on rules breakers launched

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Thousands of Sydneysiders will be locked in their neighbourhoods, most shops shut, and ‘non-urgent’ construction banned as Covid cases spiked above 100 again.

The new restrictions announced by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Saturday aimed to completely shut down the southwest Sydney epicenter of the outbreak.

Sydney’s numbers were again headed in the wrong direction with 111 new coronavirus cases recorded on Saturday to end the third week of lockdown.

Another death was also announced on Saturday, a man in his 80s from southwest Sydney. The total number of deaths in NSW from Covid-19 is now 57.

‘I can’t remember a time when our state has been challenged to such an extent,’ Ms Berejiklian said. ‘Not a single one of these decisions was taken lightly.’

She said at least 29 of the fresh cases were infectious in the community and it’s this number that remains ‘stubborn’ and was proving difficult to lower.

‘We’re not managing to get that curve to come down,’ she said.

Ms Berejiklian ordered Fairfield, Liverpool and Cantebury-Bankstown residents to stay in their local council areas from midnight Saturday.

Those residents cannot even leave for work unless they work in heathcare, aged care or emergency services until midnight July 30 at the earliest.

If they must leave their area for work for one of those reasons, they need to get a Covid test every three days.

While the three local government areas with the toughest lockdown restrictions remained the primary focus, restrictions for Greater Sydney – extending to the Blue Mountains, the Illawarra and Central Coast – were also toughened. 

‘Just because there hasn’t been a case in your suburb or your local government area, don’t assume there is not,’ Ms Berejiklian said.

‘There is always a gap between the cases that are exposed and the cases may actually be in the community.’

Only critical retail such as supermarkets and pharmacies will be allowed to remain open from midnight on Saturday.

Businesses considered ‘critical retail’ also included banks, petrol stations, fruit shops, liquor stores and pet supplies.

‘Stores that predominantly sell health, medical, maternity and infant supplies,’ are also critical, according to a NSW Health statement. 

Other retailers will have to do click and collect or takeaway, Ms Berejiklian said.

Another rule in place from Sunday until July 30 is that construction, large or small, will shut.

The drastic step means people cannot use paid cleaners or have home repairs done unless urgent. 

‘Nonurgent repairs, any form of building, renovation, construction, maintenance including cleaners into the home or workers into home will not be allowed for all of Greater Sydney until July 30,’ Ms Berejiklian said.

‘We know this is a big decision. We know the impact this will have on businesses small and large.’

‘Where there are urgent requirements for electricity or water or other repairs, of course that will occur.’

All office workers and others working from home should not be pressured to come into work and employers can incur a $10,000 fine if they pressure employees to come in.

‘We don’t want employees being forced into the office,’ Ms Berejiklian said.

Carpooling was also banned until July 30.

NSW Police deputy commissioner Gary Worboys said  162 infringement notices were issued on Friday.

‘Millions of people right across this state that are doing absolutely the right thing are being let down by a small minority of people that continue to be irresponsible and make their own choices and decisions that put themselves at risk and their communities at risk,’ he said. 

A new restriction likely to be unpopular is that from midnight Saturday anyone who leaves their Greater Sydney home must have a mask with them at all times and wear one if working outdoors, or even if standing in a queue for food or coffee.

‘No matter where you live in metropolitan Sydney, Greater Sydney, you must have a mask with you,’ Ms Berejiklian said.

‘Even if you are exercising with your household, you might change your mind, be in an outdoor market, get a coffee, you must have a mask.’

‘If you are coming into contact with other people, you must have a mask.’

A crackdown on Sydneysiders flouting lockdown began on Saturday with 130 more inspectors being deployed from Fairfield to Bondi in an effort to stem the latest Covid outbreak.

Officers from Liquor and Gaming, SafeWork NSW, the Food Authority and Fair Trading will be ensuring residents are adhering to protocol, specifically targeting the use of QR codes and wearing of masks.

The NSW Government held crisis meetings on Friday night to discuss introducing dramatic new restrictions including police checkpoints on major roads and cameras that scan licence plates so authorities can identify people who are entering areas they are barred from. 

The shutdown of almost all retail stores is also on the cards amid another steep rise in venues exposed to the virus.

‘It has been conceded by the government that the current lockdown is not doing the job it needs to, so they will go harder,’ Nine News reported. 

‘A few of the options are shutting retail across Sydney and forbidding certain types of work, otherwise a more localised lockdown of the Fairfield area going as far as having police checkpoints and cameras which can read number plates, fining people if they leave the area,’ Mr O’Keefe reported. 

The NSW Government will hold an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday morning to finalise plans, with non-essential retail set to be one of the first things scrapped. 

New mandates will see QR codes enforced at construction sites, manufacturing plants, warehouses, supermarkets and retail.

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said Sydneysiders needed to respect safety protocol and stop treating the Service NSW application as ‘wallpaper’. 

‘The Service NSW QR code is not wallpaper, it’s there to protect your staff and customers as we battle the Delta variant,’ he said.

‘The green tick on the Service NSW app is a safety stamp — it means the contact tracers can do their job keeping the community safe.’

Mr Dominello said it was now compulsory to check in at every place of work regardless of the sector. 

‘It is now mandatory to check-in at all workplaces, supermarkets and retail stores,’ he said.

‘It is vital that businesses are displaying the QR code correctly and taking reasonable steps to ensure people entering their premises check-in using their phone or digital sign-in sheet.’     

Better Regulation and Innovation Minister Kevin Anderson said officials will be focusing on ensuring businesses are operating under Covid-safe guidelines. 

‘Customer Service compliance inspectors will be monitoring businesses to make sure they are doing the right thing, keeping us all safe,’ he said.

‘We know complying with new rules can be tough, which is why we will be working closely with businesses over the coming weeks to help them understand the new requirements and ensure Covid-safe practices.’      

The Government is also looking at cracking down on the local government area of Fairfield in particular as they consider reducing the amount of time residents are allowed to exercise outdoors and the distance they are allowed to travel. 

Half of the currently unlinked 169 cases originate from the Fairfield area as officials grapple to contain the outbreak in Sydney’s west. 

The crackdown comes as more Covid venue alerts were revealed with busy bus routes in the city’s southwest, a popular Kmart, and numerous supermarkets added to the list.

NSW Health released the expanded list late on Friday night with the Seven Hills Kmart and Better Health Pharmacy venues of particular concern.

Passengers on some bus routes running to and from Bankstown have also been exposed to the virus and are urged to immediately get tested and isolate.  

The construction site of a new multi-million dollar aged care complex at Gordon in Sydney’s north has also been listed as a close contact exposure site.

The Grindley Constructions site on Bushlands Avenue was visited by a confirmed Covid case from 7am to 1.30pm on July 12.

Four Woolworths, three Aldis and several pharmacies scattered throughout the city have all become places of casual contacts.

Wollongong Hospital staff were earlier on Friday evening told they must immediately get tested for Covid and isolate if they visited a nearby 7-Eleven store.

The central west of NSW is also on high alert after a person with Covid visited the rural town of Molong – about 290km west of Sydney – on July 16.

The Western District Health Service said contacts of the visitor to the town of about 1,800 residents have been tested and are in isolation.  

 Sydney’s outbreak of the Delta Covid strain is not yet under control despite three 
weeks of lockdown and cases dipping under 100 four days in a row. 

A graph of all the new cases over the past week and the updated daily averages illustrates that infections are still on the rise.

Covid cases in Greater Sydney broke the 1000-case barrier as a further 97 were announced on Friday with 29 in the community for their entire infectious period.

Ms Berejiklian said that critical second number needs to be as close to zero as possible in order for the lockdown to end. 

‘I can’t stress to the community enough my absolute concern that we need to work harder at reducing mobility and reduce our interactions with others if we will bring the situation under control,’ Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday.  

The city’s infection rate has seen Australian Medical Association Omar Khorshid claim NSW will need to go harder – or face an ‘indefinite’ lockdown. 

This is despite the number of new daily cases appearing to peak on July 12 at 112, with cases hovering between 65 and 97 in the four days since.  

Ms Berejiklian has repeatedly said numbers will continue to ‘bounce around’ as contact tracers work to stay on top of the virus’ spread.

However, she said she would use tougher restrictions should the case rate continue to remain stubbornly high.

‘If (Chief Health Officer) Kerry Chant says we need to introduce to reduce mobility that is what we will do,’ she said.     

It’s unlikely Ms Berejiklian and Dr Chant will consider easing Sydney’s lockdown until the figures stabilise and drop amid concerns that contact tracers still aren’t on top of the outbreak.

Sydney has been in lockdown for three weeks and the premier has already announced a two-week extension – but there are fears stay-at-home orders will remain in place well beyond the expected date.    

The vast majority of cases on Friday were in the Fairfield council area, in the city’s south west. 

New South Wales has now recorded 1,026 Covid cases since the state’s latest outbreak began on June 16.

Less than a week ago on July 10, the daily average was 32.5 new cases.

But in just six days, that number has more than doubled to 83.8 new cases by Friday. Average cases appear to be trending up by about 10 each day.

Dr Chant said on Friday she  ‘was not pleased’ that transmission of the virus ‘appears to be ongoing’.

‘We need to disrupt the cycle, our mobility and other interactions,’ she said.  

Professor Emma McBryde, a disease modeller at James Cook University, said Sydney’s best case scenario was the lockdown lifting in about three to four weeks’ time – probably the latter.

Prof McBryde said the Delta variant of the virus is showing no signs of abating in Sydney and case numbers will continue to rise for at least a few days.  

Authorities will then have to determine when the virus has peaked ‘and then you have to start chasing those numbers down to zero’.

‘Probably four weeks from now, would be a minimum (about August 9),’ she said. Even then, the restrictions will ease only slowly.

The Burnet Institute’s Professor Mark Stoové has warned there was a two week lag between Victoria introducing harsh Stage Four restrictions and case numbers finally falling.

Melbourne’s strict lockdown successfully brought the virus to heel but went further than Sydney’s current range of restrictions.