Coronavirus NSW: Death toll rises as workers face transport warning
Follow the green dots and use the Opal app to see if trains and buses have too many people on them during peak hour are just some of the ways the NSW Government is changing the way you use public transport.
NSW Coronavirus News
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NSW has recorded another coronavirus death despite authorities continuing to bring the disease under control.
A man in his 60s with underlying health issues died in hospital, bring NSW’s death toll to 48.
Health authorities confirmed just one new COVID-19 case overnight in addition to the death as NSW residents enjoyed the weekend out with lockdown restrictions eased.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the new infection was contracted from a known contact who acquired the disease overseas.
Almost 6000 tests were conducted yesterday following a weekend which saw people return to eat at cafes and restaurants as well as enjoying group visits to parks and homes.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT WARNING ISSUED
Commuters are being told to change the way they get to work under the state government’s COVID-19 public transport plan.
Under the plan, strict social distancing guidelines will be enforced, seeing passenger numbers on public transport severely restricted.
Green dots will be rolled out across the public transport system to tell people where to sit and stand.
The government is encouraging more people to drive to work, travel by ‘active transport’ like walking or cycling or use alternative public transport options that still have capacity like ferries and light rail.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the public transport system can’t afford anymore people to travel on buses or trains during peak hour.
“Consider the way you normally got to work and think about how you might be able to adjust that to avoid buses and trains in the peak who are already pretty much at capacity,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian encouraged people going back to work to make alternative arrangements.
“Because we are strictly adhering to social distancing, we recommend that people who aren’t already on the system in the peak, especially on buses and trains, travel in the off-peak,” she said.
She has also asked people to use the Opal app to plan their journey ahead of time and closely monitor the network’s capacity to avoid congestion.
Overflow parking for CBD workers will be established at Moore Park, with shuttle services delivering people into the city.
Transport minister Andrew Constance also encouraged commuters to walk from Moore Park into town.
The push comes as Sydney commuters easily abided by social distancing rules during the Monday morning rush hour.
But a lack of travellers made it easy, with a spike in numbers over coming days set to cause headaches for transport chiefs.
Transport security officers in orange vests lined train platforms. Kamal Arora said his job was to enforce social distancing.
“People have not been bad during COVID, but we’re not sure what will happen in the next few weeks,” Mr Arora said.
Liquidator Josh Layton, 24, said he caught the train one stop from Strathfield to Burwood during the pandemic everyday - which has not bothered him.
“I usually wear gloves, but today I forgot them. There is lots of space, it’s comfortable,” he said.
GLADYS: OPEN THE BORDERS
Keeping state borders shut “doesn’t help Australia,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said, in further criticism of Queensland not welcoming interstate travellers.
“I think closing borders doesn’t help Australia, it doesn’t help any of the states, and it doesn’t help our population,” Ms Berejiklian said.
The comments come after her QLD counterpart Annastacia Palaszczuk said her state’s borders would stay shut while community transmission of COVID-19 is still occurring in NSW and Victoria.
“This notion that somehow you’re going to completely eradicate the virus from Australia is I think a bit beyond what’s reality,” Premier Berejiklian said.
“Ironically, we actually had someone from QLD come down to NSW with the virus last week.”
“I think the sooner our internal borders come down the earlier we can increase our economic activity and not have this artificial construct which I don’t think serves anybody well,” she said.