NSW coronavirus lockdown: Rising infections split crisis cabinet
The NSW government is divided over ways to stymie the spread of Covid-19 through Sydney but also boost the economy.
The NSW government is divided over how to tackle stubbornly high numbers of Covid-19 infections, with crisis talks canvassing the tightening of restrictions in some parts of Sydney and easing them in other locations.
With Victoria and South Australia preparing to exit lockdown on at 11.59pm on Tuesday, the Berejiklian government’s crisis cabinet is considering a range of options to stymie the spread of Covid-19 cases through Sydney but also boost economic activity.
Despite the stay-at-home restrictions in place for weeks, there were 145 new cases recorded on Tuesday, including at least 76 who were in public for part of the period they were infectious.
While Victoria had not finalised a decision to end its lockdown – with 11 new cases on Monday, all isolating while infectious – Health Minister Martin Foley said the state was on track to scale back restrictions as planned.
In South Australia, restrictions on the number of house guests and other density limits on restaurants and cafes will remain in place once the lockdown ends.
The near-five-hour NSW crisis cabinet meeting on Monday was presented with economic modelling commissioned by Treasurer Dominic Perrottet that forecast significant job losses if restrictions were to remain in place into August and September.
However, some crisis cabinet members want tougher restrictions to be applied to Sydney’s southwestern suburbs – the four local government areas where the majority of cases are being detected – in order to bring down infections and ease restrictions in other sections of the state.
Other members of the crisis cabinet, including the state’s chief health officer, Kerry Chant, are pressing for a cautious approach, having earlier told reporters the lockdown’s settings would need to remain “as tight as possible”.
Discussions included possible pathways to easing restrictions in less-affected parts of the state, such as Shellharbour and Sydney’s northern beaches, as well as how to allow schoolchildren to return to classrooms.
Government sources not permitted to speak publicly say they expect key decisions to be made on Tuesday, with crisis cabinet members to consider their positions overnight.
However, it was decided stay-at-home orders on Orange and other parts of the central west would end at 11.59pm on Tuesday.
The Australian on Monday reported the government had asked for modelling for the economic impact of a lockdown that could extend as long as September 17.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she “(didn’t) know who came up with that date”, adding no decision had been taken about extending the Sydney lockdown.
However, officials confirmed the modelling had been presented to the crisis cabinet on Monday.
“The NSW Chief Economist and NSW Treasury frequently prepare economic modelling for the purpose of cabinet discussions, including with respect to the pandemic,” said a spokesman for Mr Perrottet.
He added that the government had written to Josh Frydenberg “with respect to support for businesses and families”.
“The NSW Treasurer has written to his federal counterpart asking for JobKeeper to be reinstated to further ensure businesses and employees maintain their links during this period, to save jobs and help our economy rebound as quickly as possible when restrictions begin to ease,” the spokesman said.
Forecasting the possibility of eased restrictions beyond July 31, when the current lockdown is due to expire, Ms Berejiklian said community safety would be balanced against individual liberty.
“Our mission is to keep the community as safe as possible, but also to make sure we allow the community to live as freely as we can as well – and there’s no doubt that some restrictions have better effects than others, and that is the advice we’ll get from our health experts in consultation with other officials,” she said.
The southwestern councils of Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool remain the areas worst-affected by Covid-19, although authorities say numbers are dropping in Fairfield and rising in neighbouring suburbs.
The transmissions are being driven by two sources: contact between households and workers operating in critical industries.
“The only people that are actually moving about are those essential workers, so people that are working in logistics and distribution, critical workers that come from (southwestern Sydney) that support Sydney and even NSW and beyond,” Dr Chant said.
Pfizer vaccines will be made available as a priority to supermarket workers at Woolworths, Aldi, Coles and Metcash stores in Fairfield, Liverpool, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland and Blacktown council areas.
New walk-up AstraZeneca vaccine centres have also opened in five locations.
NSW Health said that a further two deaths had been recorded as a result of the virus: a woman in her 80s living in Pendle Hill and a man in his 80s in Campbelltown. That takes to 10 the number of deaths linked to the Covid-19 outbreak, which began on June 15 after an unvaccinated limousine driver contracted the virus from international flight crew.
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