Just like pretty much everyone expected, Greater Sydney is remaining in lockdown for at least two more weeks until 11:59pm on Friday, July 30. That means Sydney is essentially spending the whole month in lockdown.
The news comes after 97 new COVID-19 cases in the community were announced on Wednesday morning. Of those, 24 people were infectious in the community, and this is the all-important number which will dictate whether or not we leave lockdown.
“It always hurts to say this, but we need to extend the lockdown for at least another two weeks,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at her Wednesday press conference.
“I just wanted to provide certainty on behalf of the government to the community that the lockdown will remain for the next two weeks with the current settings.”
That means the restrictions are staying as-is until further notice. No gatherings, no restaurants or bars, and no leaving the house unless its for four reasons: shopping for essentials, doing essential work, exercising outdoors, and for health or compassionate reasons, which includes getting vaccinated.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant once again stressed that a quite a few young people are being hospitalised after contracting the virus.
“Of the 21 people in ICU, one is in their 20s, two are in their 30s, two in their 40s, five in their 50s, five in the 60s, three in 70s, and two in 80s,” she said.
“The reason I take the time to read out those age profiles, it really is to dispel the misconception that COVID is mild and younger age groups.
“Yes, it is less likely to lead to hospitalisations in younger age groups, but it still can be a serious illness admission to ICU so it’s important to keep ourselves and loved ones safe, so please follow the public health advice.”
On that note, it would be great if everyone under 40 was able to get bloody vaccinated, hey. You can triple-check to see if you’re eligible for Pfizer here, or you can talk to your GP about getting the safe and similarly-effective AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Delta strain of COVID-19 is clearly a different beast compared to previous waves of the virus. Now it’s up to the government(s) to sort out this clusterfuck of a vaccine rollout.
