Deputy Premier, John Barilaro confirmed lockdown will not be ending on July 16. However, he suggested that restrictions may be tightened in certain areas.
Speaking with Sunrise this morning, Barilaro admitted that he is doubtful the spread of the Delta variant has reached its peak, and believes numbers will continue to rise as lockdown is extended.
When journalist Natalie Barr asked Barilaro why the NSW government didn’t lock down harder and faster, the deputy Premier defended his government’s decision, noting the unpredictability of the virus’ spread.
“We’ve made the decisions today with the advice we were given by health, but what we’ve seen is that there is mobility in the community, people are out and about and it’s not helping the cause. You go down harder.”
Barilaro hinted to Sky News that restrictions may be tightening, confessing “we’ve lost control” of the rapidly spreading virus.
“We may have to go further or tighten restrictions in some local government areas … It means making sure there’s less movement of people going into homes, going into construction sites, going into retail.”
He assured that a curfew had not been considered, as was implemented in Melbourne last year. Barilaro nevertheless stressed the severity of the recent numbers.
Sydney lockdown is a result of great failures in quarantine at Sydney Airport & low vaccination rates because of Federal government decisions in 2020. Delta growing since December 2020, but no rush/no plan. Accident waiting to happen. Many warned it would come. And it did.
— Bill Bowtell AO (@billbowtell) July 8, 2021
With the current restrictions, there are only four permitted reasons to leave home:
- to obtain essential goods or services – one household member per day
- for work or education if it cannot be done from home
- for outdoor exercise
- for medical or caring reasons, including travelling to get a vaccine
If you are exercising outdoors in Greater Sydney area, you may be asked to show proof of address, as current rules state that exercise must be within 10km from your home.
On Monday, case numbers in NSW recorded overnight reached over 100, and they are expected to rise.
At the same time, fears emerge in Victoria as 3 locally acquired cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.
NSW are handling this lockdown just like how I approached University assignments; put everything off until it become dire #nswlockdown
— Todd Duncan (@tlux95) July 9, 2021
