NSW Covid updates: 65 new cases, 10 million in lockdown

A limousine driver health order lapse has turned into a full-blown car crash, with more than 10 million people in Australia’s two biggest states now in lockdown. It comes as three major Sydney hospitals were placed on alert. Read our Thursday blog.

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A limousine driver health order lapse has turned into a full-blown car crash, with more than 10 million people in Australia’s two biggest states now in lockdown, as two Premiers fired barbs across the border over competing strategies to contain the virus.

On Thursday, 929 loc­ally-acquired Covid cases had been detected in NSW since a limo driver caught the virus.

Victoria last night had 18 cases from two outbreaks, both originally sourced back to people who went to Melbourne from Covid-ravaged Sydney.

Two people have died with Covid amid the Sydney outbreak - the only deaths from locally-acquired Covid in Australia this year – and there are 73 people in hospital in NSW.

The NSW lockdown is estimated to be costing $1 billion every week.

With Victoria now in its fifth lockdown - this time for five days - the national cost is set to skyrocket.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday night announced a five-day “hard lockdown” for his whole state in bid to shut down Covid-19 spread.

Restrictions will mirror the June lockdown, which imposed strict rules on what businesses could open.

"We have got a list of those people who can work, a list of those businesses that can be open, and a list of who cannot,” Mr Andrews said.

“That was successful then, and this will be successful now,” he said, in a veiled swipe at his NSW counterpart, who has repeatedly refused to define which workers are “essential”.

In thinly disguised jabs at NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Mr Andrews said his state’s lockdown rules had “absolute clarity” and “will be successful”.

“Nothing about this virus is fair. Nothing about the fact that this virus has travelled from Sydney is fair,” he said. “These cases started in NSW, but I’m determined they will end here.”

NSW recorded 65 new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/tW6Zxiitm6

— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 15, 2021

The comments came after Ms Berejiklian scoffed at the Victorian government’s rules on what businesses could and could not open.

Ms Berejiklian and Health Minister Brad Hazzard both dismissed suggestions Victoria had “very successfully” outlined what essential services could remain open in a lockdown. “No they didn’t,” they both said. Ms Berejiklian on Wednesday said the Victorian rules had led to “absolute chaos”.

Mr Andrews denied he was directly criticising Ms Berejiklian, but repeatedly made comments that would have been seen as an ­indirect attack.

“We will not wait around – and if this offends the sensibilities of anybody else in any part of the country, I really don’t care,” Mr Andrews said.

Earlier, Ms Berejiklian urged locked-down residents to “respect the intent” of her health orders, amid ­confusion over what constituted ­essential work.

NSW reported 65 new local cases on Thursday. More than 28 of those cases were infectious in the community. The source of 25 cases was still unknown.

“There are still 28 people who are infectious in the community. Unless we get that down to zero, or close to zero, we can’t get out of the lockdown,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Chief health officer Kerry Chant said the number of new cases infectious in the community was stabilising, but needed to come down. “We’re wanting to further decrease mobility and interactions,” she said.

After telling “essential workers” they should “think twice” about whether they needed to go to work, Ms Berejiklian on Thursday shifted her language to declare people “must” work from home if they can. “However, if you cannot do that, you are able to leave home for work,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian said the “vast majority of retail shops aren’t open”.“There may be legitimate issues for why (shops that are open) are essential,” she said.

The Premier also admitted there was not “perfection” in her lockdown rules.

By the end of Thursday, three major Sydney hospitals were on Covid alert after a nurse and pregnant woman tested positive.

The nurse, who was fully-vaccinated, had been working in a Covid ward at Westmead Hospital before testing positive on Tuesday. They had no symptoms and wore full protective equipment during shifts at the hospital.

A NSW Health spokesman said the employee was isolating at home and "no further transmission" had been linked to them."

A pregnant woman visited Liverpool Hospital for a caesarean procedure on Wednesday also tested positive to Covid, forcing staff into isolation.

A spokeswoman from the hospital said everything but emergency surgery had been paused and close and casual contacts were being identified.

On Thursday nnight, South West Sydney Local Health District onfirmed that a Covid-positive anaesthetist who visited a ward full of expectant mothers at Liverpool Hospital also worked at Campbelltown Hospital while infectious. 

Contact tracing is continuing but theatres at both Liverpool and Campbelltown Hospitals have undergone deep cleansing and non-urgent procedures at both locations have been postponed. 

All close contacts are being tested and are isolating for 14 days.

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Originally published as NSW Covid updates: 65 new cases, 10 million in lockdown

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