From 1am on Wednesday, July 14, anyone who lives in the Fairfield LGA and travels outside of that area for work will be required to have a test every three days to demonstrate that they are virus free. This includes people living in Horsley Park; Wetherill Park; Smithfield; Fairfield; Fairfield East; Fairfield West; Fairfield Heights; Yennrora; Old Guildford; Villawood; Carramar; Canley Vale; Canley Heights; Lansvale; Cabramatta; Cabramatta West; Mt Pritchard; Bonnyrigg; Bonnyrigg Heights; Edensor Park; St Johns Park; Wakeley; Prairiewood; Bossley Park; Abbotsbury; and Cecil Park.
Tests will be required even for people who have no symptoms or have not attended a high-risk venue. Fairfield residents who are travelling for work will need to carry documentation that proves they have returned a negative result, which they’ll need to produce if they’re stopped by police. The premier also called on employers to check where their staff live to ensure that if they are from the Fairfield area they are testing regularly.
Fairfield continues to be the epicentre of the Sydney outbreak, with the majority of cases linked to that LGA and some of the surrounding suburbs.
Anyone who travels to regional NSW from metropolitan Sydney for work will be required to get tested every seven days, and like those from Fairfield, they will need to carry proof of their negative test result.
Despite the health orders calling on people to remain home except for “essential work”, the state has not defined what constitutes essential work, leading to confusion over who is allowed to work during the lockdown. The state health minister Brad Hazzard said that people should use “common sense,” in determining if their work is essential or not.
The state recorded 89 new cases of community transmission in the 24-hour reporting period between July 12-13, with 21 of those cases were infectious in the community.