NSW is bracing for an extra two weeks of lockdown as the Sydney Delta outbreak continues to wreak havoc across the state.
As of last Sunday, community transmission of the coronavirus has quickly spread across Sydney, leading to 89 daily cases on average, and bringing the total number of cases to 77,112.
It’s the biggest we’ve seen all year, as NSW is not expecting to return to normal for quite some time. Restrictions are likely to remain for months with no end in sight, leaving many industries in the dark.
Small businesses have been hit hardest by the change, and are now hitting back.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the support package yesterday afternoon.
The so-called Commonwealth COVID-19 Disaster Payment sees an immediate increase from $500 to $600 for people who have lost more than 20 hours of work.
Meanwhile, workers who have fallen short by 8 to 20 hours will receive a payment of $375, up from $325 in the last rollout.
Cashflow support is also being offered to affected businesses, which will see up to $10,000 given out per week, adjusted as 40 per cent of current payroll.
Interesting that the feds are highlighting the slightly higher per capita amount of JobKeeper paid to Vic last year. ($4,220 in Vic vs $3,684 in NSW). Vic was locked down for 163 days in 2020, NSW 45. So that’s $25.89 per person per day of lockdown for Vic vs $81.87 for NSW.
— Rachel Baxendale (@rachelbaxendale) July 13, 2021
The announcement of the support package yesterday boosted speculation that a significant lockdown extension was imminent.
The four-week lockdown extension is expected to be confirmed by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian later today, which will bring restrictions through to mid-August.
There are currently 65 COVID cases across Sydney hospitals, including 21 in intensive care and 4 who require ventilation.
To put that into perspective, one in every three hospitalised COVID patients in NSW are in intensive care.
NSW government know y’all gon go crazy if they said 1 month lockdown so they gon update y’all one week at a time 🤣
— mondoola (@ma_ndela) July 9, 2021
Sadly, this no longer includes just the elderly or those with underlying medical conditions.
St Vincent’s Hospital emergency department medical director Dr Paul Preisz said there is a “disproportionate number of younger patients in ICU” this time around.
“It just seems like nobody is safe,” he added.
Two people have died since last weekend from the virus, the highest record this year.
