The mask orders issued last week, which were originally set to expire at 12.01am on the morning of Thursday, June 24, will now be extended for one week, until 12.01am on July 1. The mandate, which only applied to seven local government areas, will now be in effect for all of Greater Sydney, except for the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast, from 4pm on June 22.
The extension of the mask orders is in response to a significant surge in cases of the highly contagious Delta variant. Ten new cases were reported between 8pm on June 20 and 8pm on June 21, bringing the total number of cases in the Bondi Junction cluster to 21. All but one of the most recently reported cases were linked to existing cases, however, concern remains over how easily the variant currently spreading in Sydney is passed on. In several instances, it appears that newly diagnosed cases have become infected without any direct physical contact, making the transmission, according to NSW chief medical officer Kerry Chant, “scarily fleeting”.
Checking-in QR codes will also now be mandatory for all retail outlets and shopping centres across the state. Previously, only hospitality and entertainment venues required check-ins, but since the current cluster has been linked to a retail hub, the state’s contact tracing abilities have been reduced. Due to this lack of check-in data, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is calling for anyone who attended the Westfield shopping centre at Bondi Junction between June 12-18 to get tested immediately. Chant warned that thousands of people who attended the Bondi Junction Westfield could be at risk, so shoppers should urgently seek testing.
When quizzed about the possibility of a circuit breaker lockdown, similar to that in Melbourne, Berejiklian said that the state would follow the guidance of its health experts as the situation developed.