Stay-at-home orders are being tightened in three Sydney council areas, retail is being restricted and construction paused as NSW records a COVID-19 death and 111 new community cases.
From midnight on Saturday, Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool council residents are not allowed to leave their local government areas until July 30.
The only exception is for those who work in health and emergency services.
Only critical retail such as supermarkets, pharmacies and banks will be allowed to open from Sunday. Other retailers will have to do click and collect or takeaway, Premier Gladys Berejiklian says.
Construction sites, large or small, will be shut until July 30.
All office workers and others working from home should not be pressured to go in to work, the premier said on Saturday, with employers to potentially incur a $10,000 fine if they pressure employees to attend.
Ms Berejiklian also told Sydneysiders not to carpool with anyone.
“I can’t remember a time when our state has been challenged to such an extent,” she said.
“Not a single one of these decisions was taken lightly.”
She said at least 29 of the fresh cases were infectious in the community and it’s this number that is “stubborn”.
“We’re not managing to get that curve to come down,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian defended the measures taken to curb the outbreak so far, saying it had already prevented “thousands and thousands” of cases.
Health chief Kerry Chant confirmed a Sydney man in his 80s died from the virus on Friday.
Dr Chant was questioned multiple times by reporters on Saturday about why harsher measures, particularly in locking down workplaces, were not taken earlier.
She said the time lag in learning about the infections was a challenge and defended her efforts in urging workplaces to “do the responsible thing” and allow their employees to work from home.
She said she’d heard some in the community don’t believe they can pass on the coronavirus infection if they don’t have symptoms, which she said was incorrect.
The health chief was asked about a mother of a newborn baby at Nepean Hospital who has tested positive for the virus and who has been separated from her baby.
“I can’t imagine how difficult the circumstances of giving birth knowing that you’re positive,” she said.
NSW police issued a further 162 fines in the 24 hours to Saturday for people failing to abide by the lockdown.
Commands are ramping up enforcement in the three south-western local government areas going into an extra strict lockdown.
Residents were assured on Saturday that government agencies would mobilise between now and July 30 to help bring them supplies and services as needed.
About 82,000 people came forward for COVID-19 testing on Friday.
The fresh 111 cases recorded on Saturday follows 97 announced on Friday.
The lockdown of Greater Sydney is scheduled to end on July 30.
AAP
