The central-western NSW town of Orange and its surrounds have woken to a snap seven-day lockdown after a COVID-positive delivery driver visited the area and infected another person.
The lockdown in the Orange, Blayney and Cabonne local government areas began on Tuesday – the first time a stay-at-home order has been imposed in regional NSW.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro says it’s a tough but appropriate response, given the highly infectious nature of the Delta strain of the coronavirus.
“We are hoping that there are no other infections, but we don’t know and we won’t know and we don’t want to take that gamble,” he told ABC TV today, Wednesday 21 July.
“If we have to do more we will do more,” he said.
The vaccination rollout “has let us down”, with demand outstripping supply, he said.
“It is a real issue for the federal government. They promised more.”
Meanwhile, Business NSW is calling on the Berejiklian government to end the two-week pause on the construction industry a week early, “in a safe but reduced way”.
“It is estimated the construction industry close-down is going to cost the NSW economy between $800 million and $1 billion a week, in addition to the wider lockdown making this a $2 billion per week problem for businesses,” Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter said in a statement on Wednesday.
After intense lobbying from the industry Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Tuesday building sites could “definitely” re-open on July 31.
But Mr Hunter is pushing for tradies to get back to work on Monday saying “construction supports hundreds of thousands of people and their livelihoods”.
“It will give those businesses without a proper COVID Safe plan time to develop one, and give an opportunity for businesses to order and receive materials in time for a recommencement of trade,” he said.
NSW Health on Tuesday issued a number of COVID-19 alerts for Orange including a petrol station, Officeworks, Woolworths, pizzeria and tobacco shop after the delivery driver visited the area and infected a man who works in Blayney and then attended multiple Orange venues.
Residents of the three affected council areas can leave home for four reasons – shopping for essential items, medical care or compassionate needs, exercise in groups of no more than two, and work or tertiary education which cannot occur at home.
Schools in the affected areas will remain open with restrictions, including mandatory face masks for all teachers.
Funerals in the areas will be limited to 10 people from Friday.
Masks must also be worn in all indoor settings and outdoors where social distancing cannot be maintained.
Authorities on Tuesday said Canterbury-Bankstown has become a particular concern amid the Greater Sydney outbreak, with NSW notching 78 new local cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday.
At least 29 of the new cases were in the community during their infectious period.
The three-day average for new cases has dropped to 85, leading Ms Berejiklian to declare: “We’ve stabilised the virus.”
Surveillance testing around the Canterbury-Bankstown area had picked up multiple asymptomatic cases, showing the need for people in southwestern Sydney to remain vigilant, the premier said.
NSW Health is now treating 95 cases in hospital, including 27 in intensive care. Eleven people are on ventilators.
Ms Berejiklian also addressed concerns small business employers were skirting orders to work from home “unless it is not reasonably practicable”.
The premier said workers should dob in bosses, who could cop a $10,000 fine for flouting the health order.
Tuesday’s numbers included the outbreak’s fifth death – a woman aged in her 50s who died on Monday morning in southwestern Sydney.
A full list of NSW exposure sites can be found at health.nsw.gov.au
