Like clockwork, the ASX 200 saw a 1.2% slip on Friday as coronavirus cases in Sydney’s Northern Beaches started to grow.
To the ordinary citizen, including myself, the thought of the ASX is enough to bore anyone to sleep. However, if there were ever a time to pay attention to economics, it would be now. In the last year, Australia entered into its first recession in three decades, seeing employment soar to its highest level in 19 years.
As COVID began to fuck off and life slowly returned to normal, hopes began to soar. On Friday, the ASX 200 recorded its seventh straight week of gains, restoring investor confidence. Enter the Avalon cluster. Despite this promising rise, the Northern Beaches outbreak and subsequent lockdown saw our beloved ASX drop by 1.2% to 6675.5. Devastating stuff.
As spooky as this sounds, never fear. The market still ended up 0.5% higher than the previous week, locking in yet another successful day on the trading floor.
A northern beaches man allegedly travelled more than three hours to the Ulladulla Leisure Centre, despite a strict lockdown preventing residents from leaving the area.
— Bill Scetrine (@WScetrine) December 21, 2020
Yesterday (December 21), 15 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in NSW, all linked to the Northern Beaches cluster. It was reported that over 38,000 tests were conducted in a record turnout, with infections down by nearly 50% from the previous day.
There are fears the Avalon Cluster has spread to other areas around Sydney including, Alexandria, Blacktown, Paddington and venues in the CBD. #9News pic.twitter.com/2jObb3HXjt
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) December 21, 2020
States have reintroduced hard border closures, leaving holiday goers from across NSW stranded. This morning, The Guardian reported that 57 cars have been turned away at the Queensland border by police, with one passenger attempting to lie to authorities about travelling from the Greater Sydney area.