Crisis talks result in regional NSW lockdown extension as Covid cases climb

Regional NSW has been dealt a blow with lockdown extended to mirror the restrictions of Greater Sydney as the state’s outbreak escalates.

Residents in regional NSW will remain in lockdown for another week after Premier Gladys Berejiklian extended the restrictions to align with Greater Sydney.

The regional NSW lockdown was set to expire on Thursday night, but given Covid-19 cases have been recorded as far west as Broken Hill, Ms Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro said they had no choice but to extend it to at least August 28.

The state recorded 681 cases overnight.

“I want to announce, and the Deputy Premier will reinforce this, that given the outbreak in western NSW and a few cases elsewhere throughout the regions, the lockdown in regional NSW will align with the rest of NSW until at least August 28,” she said.

Of the 681 cases, 25 were from western NSW, five from Hunter New England, one from the Central Coast, one from the mid-north coast and one from southern NSW, while five cases are yet to be assigned to a region.

People queue for testing. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gaye Gerard

“The NSW government and the crisis committee made a decision overnight to extend the lockdown of regional rural NSW to be in line with Greater Sydney to August 28,” Mr Barilaro said.

“The decision was based on numbers we have just heard.

“Twenty-five new cases (in western NSW) overnight, spread in areas like Bathurst, Brewarrina, Dubbo and Mudgee, have taken the total cases in that area, active cases, to 167.”

NSW deputy chief health officer Marianne Gale said she was particularly worried about the northwestern NSW town of Wilcannia.

Wilcannia is a small town of 745 people populated by predominantly Indigenous Australians.

It is believed the Covid-19 outbreak there was caused by an infected person who travelled to the remote community for the funeral of a young ­Aboriginal man and spread the virus to other mourners.

Health authorities turned a football oval into a makeshift testing centre on Wednesday, and locals were being told to get tested and to isolate at home.

“We are concerned about three cases overnight, notified in Wilcannia and those cases will be included in the numbers tomorrow,” Dr Gale said in Sydney on Thursday.

“We are very concerned about the risk of community transmission in Wilcannia, and we call on anyone who has been in or near Wilcannia in recent days to please get tested.

Deep cleaning was under way at a school in Dubbo. Picture: Belinda Soole/Getty Images

“We ask all of the population of western NSW to be very vigilant for symptoms, to come forward for testing and please take up any opportunity to get vaccinated as soon as you can.”

The regions’ lockdown fate was discussed during a crisis cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities combed through the data and information at hand, including case numbers and sewage surveillance results, before they made the call to extend restrictions.

“What we’ve actually seen is escalating numbers that have been occurring across the state,” Member for Bathurst Paul Toole told regional media outlets.

A staggering 633 new cases were recorded on Wednesday. Of those 23 were in western NSW, including 17 in Dubbo.

Other infections were detected in Mudgee, Narromine and Gilgandra. There were also cases in Wilcannia, Bourke and as far west as Broken Hill in recent days.

Mr Toole said the virus was also spreading in the Hunter New England area and in Shellharbour and Wollongong.

Ms Berejiklian also suggested regional areas of NSW might have restrictions eased before Greater Sydney, including school students returning to school.

“In relation to schools and the rural and regional community, it really depends on what the case numbers are doing in regional and rural communities when we're moving forward,” she said.

“We have used a model in the past where there’s been a separation between Greater Sydney and the regions, and if that is safe from a health perspective, we'll continue to do that.”