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New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian has continued to shoot down calls to further tighten Sydney’s lockdown by defining essential retail settings, as she lamented that 29 of the 97 new cases announced on Friday were infectious in the community.
South-western Sydney continues to be the focus of health authorities’ attention, with the local health district accounting for 67 of the new cases.
Household contacts continue to dominate new infections, however chief health officer Kerry Chant said she was increasingly concerned about the number of mystery cases, with 34 of the new cases announced on Friday unable to be linked to known cases or exposure sites.
While authorities were pleased with a record 77,587 tests conducted in the 24 hours reporting period to 8pm on Thursday, Berejiklian warned she expected case numbers to be greater tomorrow given the 29 cases that were in the community while infectious.
“There is no doubt that the numbers are not where we would like them,” Berejiklian said.
“In the main we just need people to stop moving around and while we know south-western Sydney has the bulk of the cases, it is really important for all of us, no matter where you live, no matter your circumstances, to stay at home.”
Chant was also bleak about the impact the 29 cases infectious in the community would have on future infections, saying “I can’t stress to the community my absolute concern that we need to work harder at reducing mobility and reduce our interactions with others”.
A month on from the first case in Sydney’s Delta outbreak, there have now been 1,026 locally acquired cases.
Berejiklian was repeatedly asked about further restricting movement across greater Sydney, including shutting retail to reduce the reasons people would have to leave their homes and move across the city.
She suggested health advice did not currently recommend that limiting retail settings would be effective in reducing Covid spread, however she indicated any further restrictions would be targeted to specific locations.
“If we need to go harder, of course, we will. But we need to make sure that any measures that are put in place are going to hit the mark and are going to do the job we need them to do.
“That is why it is important for us to target further restrictions to where it is required and what is required.”
Chant was also asked about the risk of smaller retailers remaining open, but said transmissions in these settings have “not been a feature” of the current outbreak. Aside from food shops, the Commonwealth Bank in Roselands remains the only retail venue to have hosted confirmed transmission during Sydney’s outbreak.
Chant’s comments follow numerous retail shops, including electronics providers in the Broadway shopping centre in inner Sydney, being listed as exposure sites. Clothing and other retail shops across Sydney remain open, but there is confusion about what constitutes an essential business.
On Friday, there were 75 Covid patients in hospitals, with 11 people under the age of 35. There are 18 people in intensive care, including one patient who has received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. One of the patients in intensive care is in their 20s, one in their 30s and two are in their 40s.
Hospitals and healthcare workers continue to be a source of concern for authorities.
A healthcare worker at Liverpool and Campbelltown hospitals tested positive on Thursday night, while three ambulance workers in south-west Sydney have now tested positive for the virus, forcing at least 70 paramedics identified as close contacts into isolation.
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A NSW Ambulance spokesperson has said it is thought the workers caught the virus outside work, either from their family or while out in the community.
An aged care home has also recorded a Covid case. A contract cleaner at Minchinbury Manor in Rooty Hill tested positive on Thursday night, which sent all residents and staff into isolation, as well as five contacts of the cleaner.
A row has also erupted between NSW Health and 200 cleaners at Westmead hospital – where a vaccinated nurse was diagnosed with Covid on Thursday.
The workers are refusing to enter the hospital’s Covid ward claiming they have been denied access to appropriate PPE including booties and hairnets, as well as delays to having their masks fitted properly and being denied the ability to shower before leaving the hospital to avoid spreading Covid to their families and the community.
Health minister Brad Hazzard said he had spoken to the Health Services Union about the “difference of opinion”, and said he had since told his health department “to be as generous and reasonable and understanding of our health workers, and on the side of being supportive to the nth degree”.
Deputy police commissioner Gary Worboys said a man had been fined for hosting a pop-up party on the street in Manly on Thursday night.
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