SYDNEY, Jul 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) – As Sydney continued to record community transmissions of COVID-19, the New South Wales (NSW) government announced today, to extend the two-week lockdown on Greater Sydney by a further week, until midnight July 16.
The state recorded 27 new locally acquired cases in the last 24 hours, to 8:00 pm last night. There have been 357 such cases reported in the three weeks since Jun 16.
The extension will move the lockdown into the first week of school term, face-to-face learning will resume in regional NSW, but learning will be moved online for schools and students in Greater Sydney from July 13. All students will return to the classroom on July 19.
NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said, the “difficult” decision was following health advice from NSW Health.
“The reason why the NSW government has taken this position is because we don’t want to be in a situation where we are constantly having to move between lockdown, no lockdown, lockdown, no lockdown,” said Berejiklian.
NSW Chief Health officer, Kerry Chant said, there are currently 37 COVID patients who have been admitted to hospital, seven of which were in intensive care unit, and two who were ventilated. She also emphasised the fact that the disease also poses a risk to younger individuals.
“Fourteen people admitted to hospital at the moment are under the age of 55…dispelling that myth that, it only leads to hospitalisation for the elderly,” said Chant.
Currently, the hardest hit part of Sydney are suburbs with multicultural populations, in the city’s south-east. There are calls that this is a result of poor support and messaging to culturally and linguistically diverse Australians.
In a show of greater financial support, NSW’s Minister for Multiculturalism, Natalie Ward, announced today one million Australian dollars (about 750,000 U.S. dollars) in funding, as an immediate response to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on vulnerable and diverse members of the community.
“This funding will be a helping hand for organisations delivering emergency relief with food, transport and language support, during this very difficult time,” said Ward.– NNN-AGENCIES
