Coronavirus: NSW Premier’s virus spin locks in a million at home

One million Sydneysiders will be confined to their homes for at least a week after Gladys Berejiklian ­ordered a snap lockdown of the city’s eastern suburbs and CBD.

One million Sydneysiders will be confined to their homes for at least a week after Gladys Berejiklian ­ordered a snap lockdown of the city’s eastern suburbs and CBD to halt a burgeoning Covid-19 outbreak, despite earlier assurances that contact tracing was ahead of the virus and just a small number of cases remained unlinked.

The NSW Premier on Friday mandated that residents who live or work in four local government areas – City of Sydney, Woollahra, Randwick and Waverley – be ordered to stay at home as part of a preventive measure to accelerate virus tracing efforts.

The Weekend Australian has been told the decision was effectively made before a meeting of the state’s crisis cabinet, which convened on Friday morning ­before the lockdown was announced to the community.

Health representatives at the meeting presented a plan of action and advice, blindsiding some ministers at the table who were not given time to consult with stakeholders. The proposal was queried but alternative plans not offered; it was ultimately supported.

“The decision was made at the crisis committee of cabinet meeting and was based on health advice. It was a collective decision of those in the meeting,” said a spokesman for Ms Berejiklian.

In announcing the measure, the Premier avoided the word “lockdown” but defended the ­decision as a reasonable and cautious one, given the likelihood of further infections predicted to emerge in coming days.

The orders will apply to people who either live in the four local government areas or who work regularly within them. They will begin from Saturday and are expected to end on July 3.

Residents will be permitted to leave their homes for a handful of reasons, including to shop for food, seek medical care, provide compassionate assistance, or to exercise in groups of 10 or fewer.

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The state recorded 22 cases of the virus on Friday, all but three of which were immediately linked to known sources.

Most cases have been linked to the Bondi cluster which currently comprises 65 cases. That outbreak, which has since seeded to other parts of Sydney, has been sourced to an unvaccinated driver who transported international flight crew, according to officials.

For now, only one unlinked case remained under investigation – that of a nine-year-old ­student from a school in ­Waverley.

The ACT became the latest jurisdiction to tighten entry requirements on NSW residents, following prohibitions on travel to Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

The restrictions in Sydney are expected to have a significant impact on tourism, with the state’s winter school holiday period due to start on Monday.

The decision to force a significant slice of the city into lockdown placed the government in an awkward and unprecedented situation, effectively forcing every member of parliament, including Ms Berejiklian and her deputy, Nationals leader John Barilaro, into quarantine for two weeks.

Indigo cafe in Double Bay gets a deep clean. Picture: John Feder.

It has also forced some regional MPs suspected of contact with a confirmed case, Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall, to remain in Sydney due to travel restrictions.

“What this does is make sure that we haven’t missed any chains of community transmission,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“This is so we don’t have rumbling cases of transmission going on for weeks and weeks. Our aim is to be proportionate.”

Australian Bureau of Statistics data suggests about one million people will be affected, including about 284,000 residents of the four council areas.

Confusion prevailed in the aftermath of the announcement on Friday as residents attempted to decipher the language of the health orders and which businesses could remain open.

Those who had been “regular” visitors to the CBD were expected to isolate, although the definition of “regular” remained unclear.

Ms Berejiklian earlier said non-essential services would be expected to close, while NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard later wrote on social media that some “retail, weddings, funerals, community sport” would continue to operate despite the restrictions which mandate individuals stay home.

Geographic boundaries between the City of Sydney and other councils also created uncertainty, particularly for businesses along King Street in Newtown, which would be subjected to a lockdown depending on which side of the street they were located.

 At the heart of ongoing tracing efforts is a Joh Bailey hair salon in Double Bay, where officials say upwards of 900 people may have been exposed to Covid-19 contracted by a male hairdresser from Sydney’s west who has since passed it to three close contacts.

Officials also began concentrating efforts on one of Sydney’s biggest apartment blocks, the 40-storey Elan building in Kings Cross, ordering all 500 residents to be tested and isolate due to a ­positive case confirmation.

The government’s decision to tighten restrictions was met with dismay by some industry groups, with Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lambert saying the move would cost the sector $200m in lost bookings and events, along with $60m in spoiled produce.

“Businesses, based off the rules introduced this week, proceeded to order stock, prepare for events and prep staff,” Mr Lambert said.

“Today we are told that events must cancel, stock is useless and that staff must be stood down. Why, in an environment where we have been tracking and tracing, do we need this lockdown?”

Late on Friday, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly extended the commonwealth hotspot declaration for Sydney, allowing workers and businesses to access a Covid-19 Disaster Payment if they are unable to work due to the public health orders.

Payments of $325 would be made to people who could prove they lost fewer than 20 hours of work; those who lost more than 20 hours of work would be eligible for $500.