NSW has recorded 27 new Covid cases and Gladys Berejiklian says more are to come, with new cases concentrated in the Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool LGAs - areas which may face tighter restrictions. Read Wednesday's live blog.
NSW has recorded 27 new Covid cases with only 13 of those already in isolation during their infectious periods.
Seven of today's cases were in isolation for part of their infectious periods and seven were infectious in the community, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Wednesday.
Three more cases attended a gathering at the Meriton Suites in Waterloo and two new infections are linked to the Commonwealth Bank at Roselands Shopping Centre.
A fourth staff member at the SummitCare nursing home in Baulkham Hills has tested positive to Covid-19 overnight, bringing the total number of cases at the facility to 10.
The premier also issued a warning that more cases are to come, especially in the Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool LGAs.
"I can foreshadow overnight that we've had a number of cases, more than we would like to have seen, so I'm anticipating that tomorrow's number will be higher than what we have seen today but they are at the moment concentrated in three local government areas," Ms Berejiklian said.
"At the moment, obviously, we have broad rules as to why people are allowed to leave the house and allowed to exercise, but if we need to, Health may provide advice on further restriction of movement in those communities."
NSW recorded 27 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/pUprrXHpRE
It comes as a subcontractor who worked at the Sydney Opera House over six days from July 1-6 also tested positive to Covid-19.
“NSW Health is currently undertaking its investigations, and the Opera House is taking all necessary steps in line with its COVID Safety Plan,” a Sydney Opera House spokesperson said.
“In line with the current stay-at-home orders, the building has been closed to the public since Saturday 26 June.”
Sydney’s southwest has been declared the new hotspot for the state’s second wave of Covid-19 as authorities warned cases had shifted from the eastern suburbs. There were 27 new cases of Covid-19, with only 13 of those in isolation prior to testing positive and 18 of the total new cases are linked to existing cases.
Fairfield is one of Sydney's latest hotspots for Covid-19.
Three council areas – Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool – have been put on alert as Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed that tougher restrictions for the area were a very real possibility.
NSW Health has reissued warnings for visitors to Club Marconi in Bossley Park at specific times on Friday and Saturday to be tested, after confirming at least one transmission of Covid occurred there. They have also issued new warnings for Ashfield Bunnings and Supercheap Auto, a Marrickville Brew store, a bottle shop in Strathfield South and a Riverwood Bank.
Pregnant women are demanding greater access to the Pfizer vaccine and better information about how to protect themselves from Covid-19 due to their increased risk of illness. Sydney mum-to-be Marie Dowling has launched a petition calling for the Pfizer jab to be proactively offered to pregnant women as a priority after new research showing they are more at risk of complications if they contract a respiratory disease like Covid-19. “We need to be correctly informed on the benefits of receiving the Pfizer vaccine and, more importantly, we need to become eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine as soon as possible to protect ourselves and the children we carry,” she said. “Pregnant women haven’t been informed enough or haven’t been informed correctly on the higher risk to themselves and their baby should they not get the vaccine and contract Covid-19.”
Schools will be given the power to change the date of the HSC trial exams this term in a bid to help principals manage the fallout of homeschooling this term. That decision was made when the NSW Education Standards Authority Covid Response Committee met this week ahead of the government’s decision to make students learn from home. It comes after parents were told they would have to homeschool their children next week as the state extends its lockdown by another week.
Parents, such as Davina Zanet, have been told they will have to homeschool their children next week.
“Schools have the flexibility to change their Year 11 and HSC assessment programs to accommodate the impact of COVID. Trial HSC exams are part of the school assessment program,” a NESA spokeswoman said.
Australians normally queuing for a sausage sizzle at Bunnings may soon be lining up for a Covid-19 vaccine at their local hardware store or even Officeworks, as businesses volunteer to help speed up the rollout. Lt Gen John Frewen and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg met with major Australian business leaders on Wednesday, where they discussed creating more places for people to access a vaccine, as well as significant incentives for people to get the jab.
Bunnings' owners Wefarmers are keen to assist with the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccinations to the public.
“There were many offers of premises for vaccinations being rolled out,” Mr Frydenberg said. “Including from Wesfarmers. That raised the opportunities that could be provided at the local Bunnings or Officeworks.
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers has described today's business meeting as an "elaborate blame shifting exercise", questioning where Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been.
"This is team Australia, and the captain has gone missing," he told media in Brisbane.
"What we saw today was another elaborate blame shifting exercise from a government desperate to avoid responsibility."
Mr Chalmers said the problem is a lack of vaccines rather than business input.
"The problem is a lack of vaccines, of quarantine and leadership."
Mr Chalmers also critiqued Treasurer Josh Frydenberg ruling out financial support for workers.
"If only Josh Frydenberg was as quick to introduce the vaccine around Australia as he was to rule out additional support for workers and small businesses doing a tough as a consequence of the Morrison government’s incompetence," he said.
"We don’t want to see the Morrison government make the same mistake in Sydney that they made in Melbourne which was too little, too late and too narrow with hundreds of thousands of dollars lost [to] the Australia economy."
Mr Chalmers said it is difficult for businesses to assist with the vaccines if there aren't any in the country.
"You can have as many plans as the Prime Minister announced and as many meetings with CEOs and generals as you like but if the Prime Minister hasn't done his job and securing the vaccines in the first place, then that is that much [more] difficult."
Tips on home schooling during lockdown
With the current lockdown in Greater Sydney now extended until 11.59pm July 16, students in these areas will be forced to spend their first week of Term 3 learning from home, as the state tackles the highly-infectious Delta strain.
This will be a tricky time not just for students and teachers — but also for parents and guardians — many of whom will be working from home at the same time.
“Maintaining boundaries between work and play spaces will make it easier for kids to focus on their learning, and remove distractions,” one primary school teacher told The Daily Telegraph.
Australian companies will be allowed to administer their own Covid-19 vaccination programs for staff, but this will not happen until later in 2021, the Treasurer has warned.
Fronting the media today after an online meeting with 30 of Australia’s top business leaders, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the chair of the government’s Covid-19 task force Lieutenant-General John Frewen confirmed the business sector would play a role in the vaccination rollout once there is sufficient supply.
“It won’t be for every workplace, and it won’t be immediately,” Lt Gen Frewen said.
But bringing industry more closely into planning would be a “very powerful partnership going forward”.
Covid cases are on the rise in NSW, and the true toll of the virus this year has been revealed, with almost 4000 Australians dying from the virus in 2023.
