NSW has recorded 98 new local cases of COVID-19, as the state government warns children may have to be vaccinated to protect against the highly contagious Delta variant.
As many as 44 of the cases recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday were active in the community while infectious, including 20 for their entire infectious period.
“The closer we get that number to zero, the sooner we can end the lockdown,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday.
The effect of harsh new restrictions in Greater Sydney – including the shut-down of the construction sector – won’t be reflected in case numbers for another four or five days, she said.
A total of 1340 people have officially contracted the virus since the first case – an unvaccinated airport limousine driver – was diagnosed on June 16.
Greater Sydney’s lockdown is scheduled to end at midnight on July 30, but Ms Berejiklian is not prepared to give a definitive end date until she sees the data over the next few days.
The increased risk posed by the Delta variant means that children will likely have to be vaccinated, she says.
“In previous strands we have not seen younger people get the virus in the way they are,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the state needed to think about making vaccines available for children, particularly those of high school age, once older age groups are immunised.
“I think there will be a key role for vaccinating children and also having booster vaccination rolled out quite quickly as well,” Dr Chant said.
The admission throws into question the state’s goal of getting 80 per cent of the adult population jabbed before starting a conversation about opening up.
The premier said the community would have to live with “some level of restriction” until vaccination rates were at an acceptable level.
She also doubled down on her weekend decision to shut the construction industry, with tradies across Greater Sydney forced to down tools for two weeks.
Having thousands of people being mobile and moving around from communities where cases were concentrated was “too big a risk”, she said.
Workplaces are the second-most common site for transmission in this outbreak.
Construction workplaces will get extra COVID-safe measures like on-site testing to ensure work can resume soon, with Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and key senior public servants meeting with the sector daily.
It’s the first time the construction industry has been shut anywhere in Australia since the pandemic began.
State Labor is calling on the federal government to re-introduce JobKeeper to help businesses and workers survive the harsher measures announced on Saturday.
The premier on Monday insisted that financial “help is there” for anyone affected by the lockdown.
Forty-seven of the new cases were recorded in the Fairfield local government area, with Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool turning up 13 cases each.
Stay-at-home orders have been tightened in those areas, with locals not allowed to leave unless they are essential workers.
But NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys denied the force was operating a “ring of steel” around southwest Sydney.
He said the organisation had more than 17,000 officers who were enforcing public health orders throughout the state.
More police will be stationed along highways and at camping grounds and service stations in the state’s western regions, after removalists were alleged to have travelled to the regions after being told they had COVID-19.
Meanwhile, two new vaccination centres opened their doors on Monday.
One is in an old Bunnings shop in Lake Macquarie and will be able to administer up to 20,000 Pfizer vaccinations each week.
The other is on Pitt St in Sydney’s CBD and will be able to vaccinate 7000 people each week.
The new cases were diagnosed from 75,845 tests carried out in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday.
Other new restrictions imposed over the weekend include the closure of non-essential retail outlets and the scaling back of public transport.
It’s estimated the tougher measures have left about 600,000 people without work.
There are 82 COVID-19 patients in NSW hospitals, with 24 in intensive care and seven being ventilated.
A full list of NSW exposure sites can be found at health.nsw.gov.au
AAP
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