NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed that Sydney will remain in lockdown for at least another week, until July 16.
The announcement comes off the back of health advice handed to state cabinet last night, as well as the 27 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the last 24-hour period.
“Now the reason for this [lockdown] is, as we’ve been saying, this Delta strain is a game changer,” Berejiklian said at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
“It is extremely transmissible and more contagious than any other form of the virus that we’ve seen.
“The reason why the New South Wales government has taken this position is because we don’t want to be in a situation where we are constantly having to move between lockdown, no lockdown, lockdown, no lockdown.
“What we want to do is give us our best chance of making sure this is the only lockdown we have until the vast majority of our citizens are vaccinated.”
So, to recap, a stay-at-home order still applies to Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour.
That means you can only go out to shop for essentials, do essential work, get medical treatment (including getting vaccinated, ofc), or for compassionate reasons.
Restaurants, cafés and bars will all remain shut (except for takeaway), as will things like hairdressers and places of worship. You can peep a more comprehensive list at the NSW Government website.
You technically can go and bang your partner, but obviously don’t abuse that rule.
Berejiklian also told people to stop visiting mates and family members for non-essential reasons, and threatened the local government areas of Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool with harsher restrictions if people appear to continue to flout the rules.
“Every time you leave the house, please assume that you have the virus or that a loved one around you has the virus,” she said.
“Please don’t assume that you don’t have it and don’t assume the person you are exercising with or the person you are having to work with doesn’t have the virus ,and whilst the mask is a protection, it is only one of the lines of defence.”
