Gyms, nightclubs and restaurants ordered to close before lockdown begins

Health authorities in NSW have revealed what businesses need to close as the city prepares to be plunged into a partial lockdown.

Health authorities in NSW have ordered non-essential businesses to close as four local government areas in eastern Sydney prepare to enter a week-long lockdown.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said out nightclubs and gyms, as well as food businesses not providing essential takeaway services must close after Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and the City of Sydney were ordered to stay-at-home until midnight next Friday.

The health directive extends to those people who don’t live in the four LGAs but have travelled into these areas for work in the last two weeks.

“The health orders will specify in detail, but clearly, if you are a business in those four Local Government Areas, unfortunately, unless you're providing essential food and services — that is takeaway food and services or grocery services of that nature — we don’t expect those businesses to remain open in the next week,” she told reporters on Friday morning.

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NSW parliament was closed earlier in the week. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

“I appreciate this is a blow for businesses in those communities but we’ve been able to limit it to those four LGAs and that is our intention.

“This is to make sure that we don’t have, as (chief health officer) Dr Chant often says, cases of transmission going on for weeks and weeks.”

Gyms were ordered to close in those areas but residents will be allowed to exercise outdoors in groups of up to 10.

“Essentially … if you live or work in those four Local Government Areas, you should only leave home if you have to work (and) you can’t work from home,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“If you have to get educated and you can’t get educated from home, if you need to look after someone, if you need to exercise outdoors or if you needed to purchase essential goods and services.”

The lockdown directive comes after NSW recorded its biggest rise in daily Covid-19 cases since the latest outbreak began on Friday, with 22 new locally acquired infections bringing the total to 70.