Central Coast to remain in lockdown until at least mid-August
The Central Coast will be in lockdown until at least mid-August after local protesters went to the Sydney rally and a household contact of a case went on a shopping spree before testing positive.
Central Coast
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Terrigal state Liberal MP Adam Crouch issued a statement on Tuesday confirming the Central Coast will remain in lockdown for the foreseeable future.
“This is due to the unbelievable selfishness of approximately 150 local residents that attended the `anti lockdown’ protest in Sydney on Saturday,” he said.
“This is also due to the five new local cases announced last weekend.”
Mr Crouch said unfortunately the health risk was just too high.
“To end the lockdown now would only speed up transmission of the Delta strain,” he said.
“It will take a few days to see if any community transmission occurred at one of the 18 exposure sites on the Central Coast. Hundreds of people were unknowingly exposed to Covid-19 and are now being tested.
“It will also take approximately 14 days to see what impact the “anti lockdown” protest has on local case numbers.”
Mr Crouch said he spoke to the NSW Premier yesterday and she will end the Central Coast’s lockdown as soon as it is safe to do so.
He said the NSW Premier would release a “road map” in the next few days which would show what restrictions could be eased once the health risk subsides.
“Thank you to everyone that has been following the stay-at-home rules so well,” he said.
“It is regrettable that a minority of people have wrecked our chances of ending the lockdown.
“And if you have any information about Saturday’s protest, please anonymously provide it to Crime Stoppers. Even a photo or screenshot will help our police detectives track down the protesters.”
Given it will take about 14 days for the impact of the protest to become known it is anticipated the coast will remain in lockdown until at least mid August.
However if the protest becomes a “super spreader” event, which seeds community transmission on the coast the lockdown could remain in place indefinitely.
It comes as Dobell federal Labor MP Emma McBride and Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill launch a petition for a mass vaccination centre for the coast with locals facing up to 60 days wait for an appointment.
“In a community where one in five people are aged over 65, there is an urgent need to get more vaccines in arms,” Ms McBride said.
“It’s nearly six months into the rollout, and coasties are still struggling to get doses.
“Sydney already has two vaccination hubs, the Hunter has one and Wollongong will launch its first hub next month. Why is the Coast being overlooked when our community is at serious risk?”
Senator O’Neill said a mass vaccination centre would help clear the backlog of vaccination appointments.
“At the moment vaccination appointments at Gosford and Wyong Hospital have to be booked two months in advance and the Erina Respiratory Clinic has closed all bookings – at this stage we will never get in front of the virus,” she said.
“We are a region in our own right and have been so for over a decade.
“This is very serious. The Coast is stuck in a lockdown caused by the fast-spreading Delta variant, why hasn’t the government set-up a mass vaccination centre?”
Mr Crouch said there were around 600 vaccines being administered at Gosford Hospital every day.
“We have enough staff and we have enough space in the hospital for this vaccination rate to double overnight, but only if the Federal Government supplies enough vaccines,” he said.
“This means that Gosford Hospital could effectively operate as a “mass vaccination hub” if more vaccines are provided.
“This doesn’t include what Wyong Hospital is capable of, as well as the General Practitioners and community pharmacies across the Central Coast.”
Prime Minister speaks to the Central Coast
Prime Minister Scott Morrison took part in a town hall, hosted by Robertson federal Liberal MP Lucy Wicks on Monday night, and talked about the Central Coast lockdown, vaccines and “selfish protesters”.
The town hall was a phone hook up at 7pm, with thousands of residents given the opportunity to listen in.
Mr Morrison, who was in quarantine in Canberra, took questions from the public which were all Covid related.
One local asked about freeing the coast from the Greater Sydney lockdown.
Mr Morrison said that was a decision for NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian who he had been talking with daily.
“We speak very regularly about this and are seeking to manage this together. Please be assured of this up on the Central Coast,” he said.
“I can assure you that the second that it is safe for the Central Coast to no longer be included in the Greater Sydney definition here, I can assure you that Gladys will move on that straight away.”
Mr Morrison said the difficulty was that there was still people commuting and working in particular sectors coming in and out of the coast. He said Ms Berejiklian would also look to lift construction industry restrictions as soon as she can.
He said with the new Delta strain of Covid, short, sharp lockdowns were the reality.
A North Gosford resident asked when the vaccines Moderna and Novavax would be available.
“I encourage everybody to take the vaccines that are there right now,” Mr Morrison said.
“Our Moderna vaccine is due to start being supplied to Australia in September.”
He said the Novavax vaccine was a “still some way off” as it remained in the trial phase and unregistered in Australia. He said for now, there was ample AstraZeneca vaccine.
Mr Morrison said on a national level for people over 16, 38 per cent of Australians have had first doses of Covid vaccines and 16 per cent have had second doses.
“I know we’ve had some problems early on … I’ve taken accountability for that but I’ve also taken accountability for fixing it. We now have turned the corner and we are making up that ground.”
When asked about the protests and how to avoid them, Mr Morrison said the police were doing all they could.
“It was incredibly selfish but equally it was completely pointless. It wasn’t going to end the lockdown sooner, it was only going to risk the outbreak running longer,” he said.
“We’ve got to appeal to people to apply their common sense. Police will do their job and I hope they find (the protesters) and they follow through on the enforcement. It’s not about free speech, it’s about health.”
He gave coasties a tip on how to access vaccines by visiting hotdocs.com.au.
“Whatever age you are, the medical advice now is that you should consider taking the AstraZeneca,” he said.
“With that and the increased Pfizer vaccine, that means there’s a lot more opportunities.
“Just starting this week, we’ve got more pharmacists who are starting to come on and be part of that distribution system. That will really see this ramp up.
“The sooner we hit those vaccination targets the sooner we can get everything back to normal … that will still be some time.
“We are going to get through this, we really really are. This is the challenge of our generation.”
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