EPA
The citizens of Sydney will remain in isolation for at least another seven days, the Government of New South Wales decided, after it was announced on Wednesday that 27 more cases of the corona virus were recorded in the area of this city.
The closing of Sydney will end next Friday at midnight, instead of today as originally planned. The same is true for residents of Wollongong, Shelharbor, the Central Coast and the Blue Mountains, although no cases of local transmission have been reported in these parts of New South Wales.
This means that the state measures will be relaxed only from Saturday, July 17, although there is no guarantee for that, but everything will depend on further test results and the possibility to bring the spread of the virus under control, as the authorities say.
Such an epilogue could be sensed given how much politicians and health officials have spoken in recent days about a significant number of “positive cases moving within the community”. There were 10-15 of them every day, which allegedly increased the risk of further transmission of the crown.
NSW Prime Minister Gladys Beredjiklian said that “it was extremely difficult to make a decision to extend the detention”…
– We understand how much stress this is for individuals, families and businesses, but this is the best way to live normally when we get out of the “lockdown”. It would be worse if we constantly had to live for an hour in a “lockdown”, an hour with milder measures, until we get enough vaccines. That would definitely not be good and that is why we want to give our citizens as much chances as possible to be safe and healthy during this period – said Beredžiklijan.
The Prime Minister pointed out that the period until next Friday will be “probably the biggest challenge for the country since the beginning of the pandemic.” She called on everyone to refrain from leaving the house unnecessarily during these weeks and to respect strict state rules.
Beredziklijan also announced that a plan to get out of the “lockdown” would be published in the coming days, which would refer not only to the first 14 days after the end of the closure, but also to the period that follows. She also warned that it is possible to further tighten measures and restrict movement, through so-called “health orders”.
The Prime Minister added that the police will be on the ground to monitor whether the measures are being respected, but at the same time she called on all citizens to take personal responsibility.
Health authorities said 37 people were suffering from covid at the moment in Sydney hospitals. As many as 14 of them are younger than 55, and of those 14, eight are under 35.
– This is a kind of warning for younger people as well – says the chief state official of NSW, Dr. Carrie Cent.
According to her, the “delta” variant of the corona virus “is not a mild disease for many people” and can result in “not only hospitalization, but also death.”
Warning for Liverpool and Fairfield
Due to the increased number of cases, a special warning was issued for Sydney municipalities: Liverpool, Fairfield and Canterbury-Bankstown. A significant part of our community lives in these areas, as well as other migrant communities, for which Prime Minister Beredžiklijan had a special message.
– I want to tell the communities in the first municipalities, and these are people of similar origin as I am, please do not see relatives and friends in the coming days, do not spend the night with each other. I haven’t seen my parents since the imprisonment started, and I know how difficult it is, but now we have to restrict movement – said Beredjiklian, who is of Armenian origin and Orthodox faith.
Online teaching
The school holidays end on Monday, but most students in Sydney and surrounding cities and areas will stay at home until Friday. Namely, schools are ready to start “online” classes again, while children of those parents who are “essential” workers or for some other reason cannot do their work from home will be able to come to the classrooms.
JobKeeper does not return
Businesses and employees at NSW will not be able to count on the reintroduction of state aid JobKeeper. This was confirmed by the Federal Treasurer Josh Freidenberg, after he received a request from his colleague Dominique Perote from the NSW Government, to temporarily return this support program due to the “lockdown”.
– We will not return JobKeeper, but the citizens of New South Wales are entitled to a one-time assistance in the amount of 500 and 325 dollars per person, as was the case with the citizens of Victoria before them – Freidenberg said.
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