The Project hosts slam Sydneysiders for not wearing masks properly during lockdown

Hosts of The Project say Sydney residents are not taking lockdown seriously and should be more like Melburnians.

Hosts of The Project have had some choice words for Sydneysiders who aren’t taking the lockdown seriously, especially those who are not wearing masks.

Their concern started with Steve Price discussing NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s comments in a press conference this week that she’s worried that people who are testing positive and have symptoms are still going out to work and retail stores.

“You’ve got a situation where a whole bunch of retail is open, and, you know, shops that shouldn’t be, and yesterday we had the chief health officer in NSW say, ‘Oh, it’s hard to define what’s essential retail’ – really? Is that the feeling in Sydney? Is that what’s happening there?” asked Price.

Steve Price was visibly annoyed at Sydney-siders who weren't taking lockdown seriously. Picture: Channel 10

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“In my area there has been a lot of people out and about but of course you’re allowed to exercise, but people playing basketball closely on top of each other doesn’t feel like it’s in the spirit of it,” said Peter van Onselen. “What about in shopping areas?”

“I would say whenever I go to the supermarket it’s about 50 per cent wearing masks, the shops themselves last time were really monitoring masks. I don’t get the sense that they’re doing that if I’m seeing that many people without masks going shopping. And at the local cafe today, I reckon only about a third of people who were dropping in to get coffees had a mask on. They almost all had activewear on, so they could probably argue, ‘I’m out exercising,’ but it didn’t look very strenuous,” said Lisa Wilkinson.

Lisa recounted many people at her local cafe not wearing masks. Picture: Channel 10

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“Lisa, come on, that’s ridiculous,” said Price, visibly agitated.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Wilkinson continued. “That would probably be the excuse that they would have and I’m not about to point at people and say, ‘Put your mask on’ but nobody else is and certainly the Premier doesn’t seem to be getting that message across, mostly because we still feel like this is the lockdown you have when you’re not really having a lockdown.”

“And it is a Sydney thing, isn’t it,” continued Peter van Onselen. “I get the impression that in Melbourne it’s taken a lot more seriously and you’ve been through so much more whereas there is a laxness.”

The panel on The Project discussed the differences between Melbourne and Sydney lockdowns. Picture: Channel 10

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“Pete, in the supermarket when Melbourne was in lockdown, just about everybody had a mask on?” asked Price.

“Everybody,” stated Peter Helliar plainly.

However, Sydney could be on track to open back up on time if the majority of coronavirus cases continue to be discovered in people already in isolation, the NSW Premier has said.

Of the 22 new cases reported on Wednesday, half were in isolation – a promising sign that means those people are less likely to spread it to anyone outside their household.

“I want to thank everybody for your efforts,” Gladys Berejiklian said.

“I just remind everybody that if we continue to do the right thing, if we make sure we are following the health advice, that we can get out of this in the time-frame we’ve described.”

But she cautioned the next couple of days would be crucial to finding out if the promising trend continues.

With a day’s reporting lag and up to 48 hours between getting tested and receiving a result for some, the numbers reported today would reflect tests done around the end of the weekend.

Sydney went into lockdown on Saturday and is slated to open back up again two weeks later, on July 9.