NSW records 11 new covid cases as calls for a lockdown resisted

Premier Gladys Berejiklian described the current outbreak as the “scariest period” for NSW, but continued to resist calls for a Sydney lockdown.

NSW has recorded another rise in Covid-19 cases, with 11 new infections recorded overnight.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian resisted calls for a Sydney lockdown, despite the spike in cases and concerns from health authorities that the state wasn’t doing enough to prevent the outbreak spreading.

NSW Health confirmed 18 new locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, 13 of which were already announced yesterday.

There were also six cases recorded outside of the official reporting period, meaning they will be included in tomorrow’s numbers. There are now 48 infections linked to Sydney’s outbreak.

A total of 11 of the 30 people who attended a “superspreader” birthday party in West Hoxton have now tested positive to the virus.

All but one of the new cases have been linked to known a known case or cluster, with “urgent investigations” underway into how a man in his 40s contracted the virus. There are now at least three mystery cases being investigated.

Here are today’s top Covid-19 updates:

• Queensland recorded three locally acquired cases overnight and Victoria recorded two new locally acquired infections.

• Health Minister Brad Hazzard claimed there was ‘zero’ truth to reports a lockdown was being planned.

• NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall has tested positive to Covid-19, with Mr Hazzard also in isolation after being identified as a close contact of a “possible” case.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian pictured at a COVID-19 press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Damian Shaw

RELATED: Sydney’s virus exposure sites list explode

Ms Berejiklian revealed on Thursday that she had been identified as a casual Covid-19 case after NSW Parliament covid scare.

Multiple politicians were asked to isolate after Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall attended a budget speech and a dinner with other MPs on Tuesday.

Ms Berejiklian said she was deemed a casual contact and was tested early this morning and returned a negative result a few hours later.

“Can I say that since the pandemic has started, this is perhaps the scariest period that NSW is going through,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian said while the state is dealing with a “very contagious variant” she still believes the current restrictions in place are “appropriate” and a lockdown wasn’t necessary at the moment.

The premier said she expected cases to rise over the coming days and urged everyone to continue to follow the restrictions.

“I do want to stress that my level of concern is medium to high across NSW but at the same time, a couple of things that we are pleased about is that all the new cases are one are linked and that one is under investigation,” she said.

“So we do expect more cases in the coming days but we also please expect everybody to do the right thing.”

Sydney lockdown calls resisted

Health authorities have resisted growing calls for Sydney to be put in lockdown.

Earlier today epidemiologist and advisor to the World Health Organisation, Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, warned Sydney was now “overdue” for new lockdown restrictions.

“Outbreak management should first and foremost be based on a duty of care to the community,” she wrote on Twitter.

“Delta VOC, highly infectious with adverse effect on vaccine efficacy. Stay-at-home order is over due.”

The surge in cases on Wednesday prompted Ms Berejiklian to announce a raft of restrictions for Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong, along with a ban on travelling outside of metropolitan Sydney for seven Sydney LGAs.

RELATED: Next restrictions NSW is facing

However, Ms Berejiklian stopped short of announcing a lockdown, with Health Minister Brad Hazzard telling news.com.au there was “zero” truth to reports the state is likely to announce a lockdown by Friday.

“No plan to lockdown contrary to media reports this evening,” Mr Hazzard said on Wednesday night.

“Measures implemented this afternoon are proportionate and appropriate. Reports of a lockdown are greatly exaggerated.”

Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said going into a snap three-day lockdown isn’t the right approach in this situation.

“Three days is not long enough and if you have a look at the reasons for the three days, it is a pause where you have a sudden surge of cases and you want everybody to stay in the same place, and that allows you to get any backlog of any contact tracing,” she said.

“We are not that situation where we are not getting to people in terms of the contact tracing.”

Long lines of people waiting for a COVID-19 test in Narellan after a local early learning centre was listed as an exposure site. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Despite officials saying they are confident the current restrictions match the risk posed by the outbreak, many epidemiologists have expressed concerns that not enough is being done.

Epidemiologist and editor in chief of the Medical Journal of Australia, Professor Nicholas Talley believes introducing tough restrictions early on is the best way to combat the highly-infectious Delta strain currently circulating in Sydney.

“I’m concerned the restrictions are not tough enough — this is the Delta variant, the worst possible threat, and going hard and early will provide the community the greatest safety,” he told the ABC.

University of Melbourne epidemiologist, Professor Tony Blakely warned a delay in announcing further restrictions meant a lockdown would be “longer and harder”, branding the decision to keep gyms, bars and restaurants open as “crazy”.

“Each day you delay means that if you need a lockdown, which I think is more than likely now, it will be longer and harder if they don’t do it soon,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

“One of the other measures is keeping gyms open at the moment, even with people wearing masks, is, frankly, crazy.”

Professor Blakely said NSW likely had a “50/50” chance of getting through this outbreak without a lockdown, adding it is a “really difficult decision to make”.

Police cracking down on compliance

Police have issued more than 150 caution notices to people not complying with mask restrictions on public transport and other settings where face coverings are required.

NSW deputy police commissioner, Gary Worboys, warned officers would be cracking down on compliance.

“We are moving much further into a compliance and enforcement regime around the order rather than a simple education response to people and that visibility and seeking people to comply there are clearly people now who want to be mischievous or simply want to go beyond the order,” he said.

“Those people will be spoken to by police and will be issued with a penalty notice rather than given the option of a caution.”

Mr Worboys also said police would be out in force to stop people from Sydney’s hotspots from breaching the current travel restrictions.

RELATED: How each Sydney covid case got infected

Police have said they will be ramping up enforcement of covid restrictions. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Ms Berejiklian said officials “don’t like to be heavy-handed” but it was important to ensure everyone was doing the right thing.

“Whether you are a business, an individual, or a workplace, we do need everybody to comply and adhere to the rules as strictly as possible,” she said.

“Make sure you follow that health advice. We also ask for a degree of patience because as you know, our contact traces are outstanding but in order to make sure that they give the best advice at the best time, they need to go through that process.”

Gladys doesn’t want to ‘burden citizens’

When asked on Wednesday why a lockdown wasn’t being considered, Ms Berejiklian told reporters she didn’t want to burden citizens with more restrictions “unless we absolutely have to”.

In place of harsher restrictions, the premier instead urged all Sydney residents to “abandon non-essential activities” and not attend social gatherings unless absolutely necessary.

“We know basically where the super spreading events have been, we know where the virus is circulating, and we don’t want to take any further action than what we have now. This relies on all of us reining in our behaviour, all of us following the health orders that are coming into place from 4pm,” she said.

“I am not ruling out any further action, but I am also confident that if we adhere to the health orders today, we will have a good chance of getting on top of this outbreak.

“I am not going to rule out further action, I am not going to rule out what happens beyond a week, because we don’t know.”

During yesterday’s press conference, Mr Hazzard warned NSW was dealing with a “very real and present danger” and the threat of the Delta variant meant now was “no time for stupidity”.

“We have gone from that near and present danger to a very real and present danger not just in a shopping centre but right across Sydney. We need all take this seriously,” he said.

“We each have the future of our fellow NSW residents and Sydney residents in our hands.”