In a surprise to nobody, the Greater Sydney has been extended for another four weeks after NSW recorded a record 177 new cases overnight.
“It was fairly obvious, given the way the numbers were going in the last few days, it would have not been possible for us to get out of lockdown tomorrow or Friday,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said a the daily press conference on Wednesday.
The extended lockdown also means a few increased restrictions.
Firstly, as of midnight tonight, Sydneysiders must only go shopping within their local government area (LGA) or, if something isn’t available locally, then no further an 10km away from home. Most people have already been following this rule as it previously applied to outdoor exercise.
Three more LGAs – Parramatta, Campbelltown and Georges River – will also join Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Blacktown and Cumberland in being subject to an Authorised Workers Order.
That means only authorised workers such as people in healthcare are allowed to leave those LGAs.
The good news is that, from Saturday, a Singles’ Bubble has finally been introduced across Greater Sydney, meaning people who live alone can nominate one friend/family member/fucc buddy to invite over. But this can only be the one person for the whole four-week period.
Also on Saturday, tradies and cleaners will be able to resume work so long as it’s contactless, meaning there’s no contact with residents.
Some more good news for down the line is that rapid antigen testing will be rolled out out in certain schools and workplaces. The NSW government is also redirecting doses of the Pfizer vaccine to get teenage year 12 students vaccinated because, until now, only adults had been part of the rollout.
As for the rest of us, the AstraZeneca is currently available to anyone over 18 at GPs and will soon be available from pharmacies, too.
“Please, ensure that if you can get vaccinated, get the vaccine,” Berejiklian added.
“Delta is different to any other strain of COVID we’ve seen and the vaccine protects you against Delta.”
“People with the vaccine are staying out of hospital, they are spreading it less than others and we know it is an important protection. Please, come forward and get vaccinated.”
