Australia’s state, New South Wales, on Friday further tightened restrictions on Greater Sydney and surrounding areas as it continued to see a surge in daily increase of COVID-19 cases.
The state on Friday reported 44 new locally acquired cases during the past 24 hours till 8.00 p.m. local time on Thursday, of which 19 were out in the community, and seven cases remained under investigation.
The total number of cases in the latest outbreak now stands at 439.
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“I appreciate the message I’m delivering today is quite shocking for a lot of people,” said NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian.
She announced the new restrictions together with NSW Health Minister, Brad Hazzard.
“But I need everybody to be shocked. Unless there is a dramatic change, unless there is a dramatic turnaround in the numbers, I can’t see how we would be in a position to ease restrictions by next Friday.
“NSW is facing the biggest challenge we have faced since the pandemic started,” she said.
Under the new restrictions, from 5.00 p.m. local time Friday, outdoor public gatherings were reduced to two people from the separate households; exercise was restricted to within 10 km of one’s home.
Also browsing in shops was prohibited; shopping for food or essential goods was restricted to only one person per household per day.
Funerals would be limited to 10 people from July 11.
Restrictions in regional NSW will remain unchanged.
“These tightened restrictions are based on health advice from the Chief Health Officer Dr. Kerry Chant.
“They are necessary due to the increasing number of unlinked cases in the community,” said a statement from Berejiklian and Hazzard.
To better enforce the restrictions, 100 police officers will be deployed to high-risk areas in Sydney’s South-West from 7.00 a.m. local time Friday.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services, David Elliott, said the police response would be elevated to protect the community from those who seek to flout the orders.
“The delta strain is a game-changer, and police will be out in the community helping people to comply, but where they don’t get compliance they will be out enforcing the public health orders. Stay at home unless you absolutely need to leave,” said Elliott.
Metropolitan Field Operations Deputy Commissioner, Mal Lanyon, added that police would be targeting people who thought the rules didn’t apply to them.
“Those people are putting everyone’s lives at risk, including their own families,” he said.
