NSW Covid: Government to announce business relief package amid Sydney lockdown

Businesses crippled by Sydney’s lockdown will receive billions of dollars in support in a relief package expected to be announced on Tuesday.

Billions of dollars in support for lockdown-affected businesses and payments of up to $600 for individuals is expected to be announced on Tuesday as NSW Covid-19 cases exploded by 112.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and PM Scott Morrison will announce the rescue package as soon as Tuesday to support NSW.

The Daily Telegraph understands it will be based on the previous scheme that boosted cash flow to small and medium businesses but will offer cash payments to cover costs including wages.

Mr Perrottet would not agree to the package unless those payments were tied to a commitment from businesses to no job losses. It is understood disaster payments to individuals will be boosted to $600 from their current top level of $500.

Both levels of government reached an agreement to chip in for the support payments after NSW had considered going it alone with a JobSeeker-style package after originally being rebuffed by Canberra.

It comes as community leaders in southwest Sydney will demand more access to vaccines in a meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday, including allowing Pfizer jabs for local youth.

The crisis is worsening across the city, as police sealed off a Bondi Junction apartment block amid positive tests in five households within it, with the government now warning even taking out the rubbish is a risk.

NSW reported 112 new local cases of Covid-19 on Monday.

People queue up at the Fairfield Showground Sypath Drive-through Covid-19 clinic to be tested on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

It can be revealed Mr Morrison and Federal Multicultural Minister Alex Hawke are also scheduled to meet virtually with 100 community leaders across southwest Sydney to seek advice on how better to infiltrate the community with vaccinations and Covid-safe messaging.

Fairfield is ground zero of the current virus spread, authorities warned on Monday, and of the 112 new cases reported, 84 are from southwest Sydney.

Belmore GP and community leader Jamal Rifi will attend the meeting and call on the government to release more vaccinations in the same local government areas that have been targeted with a heavy police presence.

“I will be asking them to temporarily suspend the eligibility criteria for people aged 18-39 if they want to have Pfizer,” Dr Rifi said, adding young people were a “transmission risk” in the community.

“I will also call on them to increase the commonwealth vaccination clinics in the area to have drop-in vaccinations for people not tech savvy.”

He said at his own GP clinic he was not getting adequate supplies of Pfizer, saying even people aged 40-59 they were unable to secure appointments.

A new vaccination hub will open at the Fairfield Showground from Friday to offer teachers and aged care workers from the area a vaccine.

Anyone over 40 will also be able to get an AstraZeneca shot at state-run clinics.

Community leaders including Dr Rifi and NSW Labor MP Jihad Dib are playing a key role in communicating to the region. Mr Hawke said “the federal government is concerned about lower vaccination rates in culturally and linguistically diverse communities”.

“That’s why the PM wants to hear from people in the communities and their leaders about what we can do to better communicate about the vaccination program and support on offer.” NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant also urged those residents working in “critically essential” fields like aged care, emergency services and healthcare to get a Covid test before they go to work.

Essential workers are leaving the house for work while unknowingly infectious, posing a risk to the community.

“Many of the workers we rely on come from southwest Sydney,” Ms Berejiklian said, suggesting that is one of the “risks” in the current outbreak.

Sixty-three people were in hospital with Covid-19 on Monday, including 18 in ICU. Four are on ventilators. Of the hospitalisations, 25 people are aged under 55 and 14 are under 35.

Of the people in ICU, one patient is in their 20s, one in their 30s, one in their 40s, five in their 50s, six in their 60s, three in their 70s, and one in their 80s.

Dr Chant is expected to outline on Tuesday what, if any, underlying health conditions those hospitalised Covid patients have, particularly the comorbidities of those in ICU.

Despite the virus being concentrated in the southwest, cases are emerging across Sydney. As police patrolled the Bondi Junction apartment block, Dr Chant warned people living in units must take care moving around common areas.

“If you’re going to get your waste disposal ... please see that as a risk as well,” Dr Chant said.