The premier had all but said it in several recent press briefings, but on July 14 Gladys Berejiklian finally confirmed that Greater Sydney would remain in lockdown for “at least” a further two weeks beyond July 16, until July 30. This is the third extension of Sydney’s lockdown since it was first introduced on June 26.
There were no additional restrictions announced, although the premier did acknowledge that the most recent lockdown rule, requiring people living in the Fairfield LGA who travel out of that area for work to be tested every three days, had overwhelmed the local testing infrastructure. She added that additional testing resources would be redirected to Fairfield by the weekend.
The news will come as no surprise to many, given the premier’s repeated hints and the announcement of a multi-week lockdown support package by the federal and NSW governments on July 13. However, the fact Berejiklian implied that the lockdown could be extended even beyond July 30 is nonetheless a sobering reminder that the current situation in NSW is by the far the most serious outbreak in the state since the national shutdown last March, which lasted just under two and a half months in NSW.
In the 24-hour reporting period between July 12-13, 97 cases of community transmission were recorded. Of that number, 70 were based in the outbreak's epicentre in Fairfield and the surrounding LGAs, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool. Twenty-four of the new cases were infectious in the community. The premier has said that the lockdown is likely to continue until the number of people infectious in the community is zero.