NSW braces for a long dark winter as fearful Gladys Berejiklian warns of extended lockdown

NSW cabinet ministers are preparing for a prolonged lockdown across Greater Sydney, amid growing concerns the current outbreak needs firmer measures.

NSW cabinet ministers have begun preparing for a prolonged lockdown across Greater Sydney, amid growing concerns the current Covid-19 outbreak will not be contained without extensive and firmer measures forcing people to stay indoors.

Signalling a marked change in rhetoric, Premier Gladys Berejiklian tightened Covid restrictions across Sydney on Friday and said the state would not be able to live with the virus, as some colleagues had suggested, until vaccination rates substantially improved.

She said it was unlikely the ­current lockdown settings would be eased without a substantial drop in case numbers, which was unlikely to eventuate over the coming days due to high ­numbers of infected people continuing to be identified in the community.

As her government tries to balance public safety with the pleas of shuttered businesses, a stoush has erupted with the commonwealth over who should pay for further funding assistance, with the federal government telling state officials to finance their own rescue package by going further into debt.

State officials have likewise asked the commonwealth to do the same.

A spokesman for NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said talks were continuing with federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, but a second official familiar with the matter blasted the commonwealth for its position.

The official said: “We’re in this mess because we’ve carried the burden on quarantine. (The) feds have blundered (the) vaccine rollout. Why do they think they should not contribute? The virus isn’t a state issue.”

A meeting of the national cabinet concluded on Friday with a commitment to make vaccinations compulsory for aged-care workers and to trial a pilot program of home quarantine for returned travellers arriving from low-risk countries.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the trial would be conducted by South Australia but observed by other jurisdictions.

“It will be run of course by South Australia but with the ­active engagement and visibility of all the other states and territories,” Mr Morrison said.

NSW recorded 44 fresh cases of the virus in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, with 19 of those cases active in the community by the time they were identified, a matter of great concern to officials. A further nine cases remain under investigation for their source.

The results marked the steepest single-day spike since 2020, leading Ms Berejiklian to clamp down restrictions across Greater Sydney and narrow the handful of core reasons allowing people to leave their homes.

Revised restrictions will allow only one person per household per day to leave their home to shop for essential items.

Outdoor gatherings will be limited to two people and residents will be permitted to exercise in groups of two, rather than groups of 10, and only within a 10km radius of their house.

Funerals will also be capped from Sunday to allow no more than 10 mourners to attend, a fact Ms Berejiklian described as a ­regrettable necessity given the ongoing crisis.

“NSW is facing the biggest challenge we have faced since the pandemic started, and I don’t say that lightly,” the Premier told reporters.

“Unless there’s a dramatic turnaround in the numbers, I can’t see how we’ll be in a position to ease restrictions by next Friday. This is the opposite of where we need or want the numbers to trend.”

Ms Berejiklian also ended any notion that she might allow the lockdown to be lifted should the virus prove unstoppable in the community, a position floated by some of her cabinet colleagues during the week, including Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Mr Perrottet.

Implementing such a policy while vaccination rates were so low would lead to catastrophic outcomes, she said, adding that it would also do no favours for the ailing hospitality sector.

Countries that had done so had seen much higher rates of vaccination, Ms Berejiklian added.

“Nobody will be going to a restaurant or bar when there’s thousands and thousands of cases. Nobody is going to want to leave their home,” she said.

The state’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said 43 people were currently in hospital with Covid-related illnesses, 10 of whom were being treated in intensive care units and four of whom were on ventilators, including one person in their 20s and another in their 30s.

Mr Morrison said he supported Ms Berejiklian’s decision to tighten restrictions, saying lockdowns had worked successfully elsewhere to suppress the virus and that Sydneysiders needed to “push through”.

“I know it is tiring, exasperating and frustrating. But we need to keep pushing through. My thoughts are with all of my fellow Sydneysiders today,” he said.

National cabinet further ­resolved that international arrivals should declare their vaccination status from July 16, and that the federal government’s preference was to see people departing the country also fully vaccinated.

Mr Morrison said an advertising campaign across TV, print, radio and social media would begin on Sunday in relation to the country’s vaccination program.

This would coincide with the additional supplies of vaccine that had been “brought forward to support the vaccination program”.

The trial of home quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals takes place in Adelaide, but Mr Morrison did not say how big it would be or how long it would last.