Covid stranglehold tightens on Sydney with mammoth exposure site list prompting fears lockdown could go on for WEEKS - as experts reveal the real reason Gladys Berejiklian is so worried about the city's south-west
With a trail of contagion seeping across Sydney's south-west and a mammoth five-page-long list of Covid exposure sites revealed on Monday night, chances the city will be released from lockdown on Friday are looking ever more bleak.
Ethnically-diverse suburbs in the south-west, where the 'vast majority' of new cases are, are home to a younger demographic, one more likely to mingle and less likely to have jobs where they can work from home.
Tradies, labourers and taxi drivers are also among the top five most popular jobs in Fairfield, the outbreak's new epicentre, which makes them more likely to travel for work and take the virus with them - putting health officials on a war footing.
Among the bumper list of 21 new venues, mostly centered in the coronavirus-ravaged south-western suburbs, are two Woolworths, a Coles, a Big W and Kmart.
This is alongside 12 bus routes and 17 trains, with Gladys Berejiklian begging every Sydneysider who can to work from home, or to be 100 per cent sure they are virus-free before leaving the house.
Ethnically-diverse suburbs in the south-west, where the 'vast majority' of new cases are, is home to a typically younger demographic, one more likely to mingle and less likely to have jobs where they can work from home (pictured, locals in Fairfield on Monday)
Among the bumper list of 21 new venues, mostly centered in the coronavirus-ravaged south-western suburbs, are two Woolworths, a Coles, a Big W and Kmart (pictured, the affected store in Bansktown)
A concerned Ms Berejiklian revealed the 'vast majority' of the 112 new community transmission in figures announced on Monday had occurred in the Fairfield local government area, 30km from the city's centre.
Nine suburbs that make up the Fairfield Local Government Area - Fairfield, Smithfield, Bossley Park, Fairfield West, Wakeley, Bonnyrigg, Glenfield and West Hoxton - are at now at the heart of the outbreak.
A closer look at the demographics shows Fairfield has a slightly lower median age of 36, compared with 38 in the rest of Australia.
Ethnically-diverse suburbs in Sydney's south-west with younger residents have become Australia's Covid epicentre (pictured, Cabramatta), 30km from the city centre
Those in Fairfield are also more likely to live with more people, have more children and are less likely to have office jobs.
Demographer Mark McCrindle said this also meant they were more likely to travel across Sydney for work.
'Your mobility out and about in the community is what you get a lot more of,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant's call for people to only shop for groceries once a week was a big ask for people who didn't have money in the bank and more mouths to feed.
'Lower earnings and lower wealth, people don't have the ongoing money to stockpile the food or to get by for a few weeks of a lockdown,' Mr McCrindle said.
Nine suburbs - Fairfield , Smithfield, Bossley Park, Fairfield West, Wakeley, Bonnyrigg, Glenfield and West Hoxton - are at the heart of the outbreak, with New South Wales recording 112 new cases overnight of the highly contagious Indian Delta variant
TOP FIVE JOBS IN FAIRFIELD - SYDNEY'S COVID EPICENTRE
Technicians, trades: 15 per cent
Labourers: 14.8 per cent
Clerical, administrative: 14 per cent
Professionals: 13.8 per cent
Machinery operators and drivers: 12.2 per cent
Source: Census data, Australian Bureau of Statistics
'It's very much the culturally-diverse supermarket and so people are just going in every day or so and buying what they need - it's a different approach to grocery shopping that we find with a lot of these migrant communities.
'These areas are not the leafy suburbs that might be well-heeled to do the once-a-week trolley shop.'
In Fairfield, less than 25 per cent of people speak English-only at home, which means three-quarters of residents have English at least as a second language.
Vietnamese is the most spoken language with 20.4 per cent, followed by Arabic on 7.9 per cent.
'Residents in these areas are connecting through their community media, through their language media,' Mr McCrindle said.
This has made community leaders more important to communicate health messaging to a multicultural population.
'That's where a lot of people look to for their advice.'
Mr McCrindle said that meant fewer residents would have heard official Covid messages from the government through popular media.
Tradies, labourers and taxi drivers are also among the top five list for work, which makes working from home much less likely (pictured, a Covid testing site at Fairfield Showgrounds)
SYDNEY'S COVID-19 HOTSPOT SUBURBS
Fairfield
Smithfield
Bossley Park
Fairfield Heights
Fairfield West
Wakeley
Bonnyrigg
Glenfield
West Hoxton
Ms Berejiklian said health officials were also still seeing high levels of transmission in the nearby Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool council areas.
'The risk is everywhere in those areas,' she said. 'We have to be upfront with where the virus is circulating at the moment.'
There are parallels with Melbourne where the virus last year circulated among multicultural communities in the city's north-west with a higher proportion of people in service jobs who couldn't work from home.
The Victorian capital was locked down for 112 days from early August until late October.
Unfortunately for the Covid-weary city, Sydney's outbreak has already moved across state lines after an infected family and a group of removalists got exemptions to travel interstate.
The Ariele Apartments in Maribyrnong, 8km north-west of the Victorian state capital, has been put into lockdown after the infected removalists visited on July 8.
The complex has since been listed as a Tier 1 exposure site, which means anyone at the apartments from 1pm to 11.59pm on that day must get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the results.
Anyone who's even been to the block at any time between July 9 and 12 must also get tested and isolate until they test negative.
A Mobil service station, a McDonald's, a shopping centre, a Metro petrol station and a Coles are also on alert after the virus-infected family travelled from Sydney.
Residents of the Ariele Apartments in Maribyrnong , 8km north-west of the Victorian state capital, have been ordered not to leave the building after the infected group visited on July 8
MELBOURNE'S NEW COVID EXPOSURE SITES
Tier 1: Get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from exposure
Ballan: Mobil Ballan - 08/07/21, 5pm - 7pm
Ballan: McDonald's Ballan - 08/07/21, 5pm - 7pm
Craigieburn: Coles in Craigieburn Central Shopping Centre - 10/07/21, 5.28pm - 6.38pm
Maribyrnong: Ariele Apartments (anyone present) - 08/07/21, 1pm - 11.59pm
Tier 2: Get tested urgently and isolate until you have a negative result
Maribyrnong: Ariele Apartments - July 9, 10, 11 and 12, 12am - 11.59pm
Broadmeadows: Metro Petroleum - 11/07/21, 1.19pm - 2.04pm
Qantas flight QF1542: Launceston to Melbourne - 02/07/21, 10.15am - 11.20am
Tier 3: Monitor for symptoms
Craigieburn: Craigieburn Central Shopping Centre - 10/07/21, 5.28pm - 6.38pm
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday said she needed to 'call out' the Fairfield local government area - where health officials found the vast majority of the 112 local coronavirus cases recorded overnight
NEW: USE DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA'S TRACKER TO FIND THE LATEST EXPOSURE SITES NEAR YOU
University of New South Wales Adjunct Professor Bill Bowtell, who spearheaded Australia's 1980s fight against HIV and AIDS, said Sydney would have to adopt a stricter, Stage Four lockdown like Melbourne did under Victoria's Labor government.
'It's disappointing we're not moving to Stage Four lockdowns - that means closing non-essential big retailers and construction sites,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'The longer we don't move to Stage Four lockdowns, the longer it will take to come out of it.'
Residents in nine suburbs have been warned they hold the key to getting the city out of Covid-19 lockdown as authorities pile pressure on Sydney's west to follow strict stay-at-home orders.
Ms Berejiklian on Monday said she needed to 'call out' the Fairfield local government area - where health officials found the vast majority of the 112 local coronavirus cases recorded overnight.
'I need to call that out,' she said. 'Everybody in Fairfield should be staying at home unless they absolutely have to.'
Of those new locally-acquired cases, 48 are unlinked to known infections and 34 were out in the community for at least part of the time they were infectious.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant singled out Fairfield, Smithfield, Bossley Park, Fairfield Heights, Fairfield West, Wakeley, Bonnyrigg, Glenfield and West Hoxton in the south-west as the 'key suburbs' where authorities were battling to contain the virus
Dr Chant singled out Fairfield, Smithfield, Bossley Park, Fairfield Heights, Fairfield West, Wakeley, Bonnyrigg, Glenfield and West Hoxton in the south-west as the 'key suburbs' where authorities were battling to contain the virus.
'The reason I am reading these locations out is we need to make sure that every member of that community understands that every time they go out of their house for an essential good, they need to assume that someone next to them has Covid,' she said.
'Everyone across greater Sydney should assume that but we are conveying that in these areas, the risk is even greater.
Under the rules of the stay-at-home lockdown Sydneysiders can leave the home to shop for essential items, although they have been warned not to browse and 'get in and get out' of stores as quickly as possible.
In Fairfield , less than 25 per cent of people speak English only at home which means three-quarters of people have English at least as a second language. Vietnamese is the most spoken language on 20.4 per cent, followed by Arabic on 7.9 per cent
But Dr Chant urged residents in the suburbs she named to take extra care to limit the time they spent outside their homes.
Rail Bus and Tram Union national secretary Mark Diamond said many workers in these suburbs didn't have the choice to stay at home.
'It is hypocritical of the NSW and federal governments to lecture these people about staying home when neither level of government has offered them any income support,' he said.
'If they refuse to work then they risk getting sacked, but if they go to work they risk getting a deadly disease. What are they supposed to do?'
The new exposure site list revealed Monday night has prompted contact tracers to frantically seeking shoppers who attended two Kmarts, where hundreds of people may have been exposed to the virus.
Anyone who attended Casula Kmart at the Casula Mall on Thursday July 8 between 6pm to 6.45pm is considered a casual contact and must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is recorded.
It is the same story for shoppers who visited Bankstown Kmart at Bankstown Central on Friday 9 July from 11am to 11.30am.
Health authorities are also concerned about various other retail giants in the area which have also been flagged as casual contact sites.
Bankstown Big W was issued with a public health alert for July 9 from 11am to 11.30am.
Wetherill Park Woolworths was identified as an exposure site for Friday July 9 between 3pm to 3.15pm and on Saturday July 10 between 12pm to 12.35pm.
HUGE COVID EXPOSURE SITE LIST FOR SYDNEY REVEALED MONDAY NIGHT
Anyone who visited the following venues is considered a close contact and should get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of result:
Lakemba: Mataam Al Mandi - Saturday July 10, 3.15pm – 3.30pm
Roselands: Roselands Fruit World - Wednesday July 7, 4pm - 4.15pm
Fairfield: Ware Street Medical Practice - Thursday July 8, 2.40pm - 3.40pm
Fairfield: Westpac Fairfield, Neeta City Shopping Centre - Thursday July 8, 1.20pm - 1.40pm
Bondi Junction: 99 Bikes Bondi Junction - Saturday July 10, 12.45pm - 2.45pm
Green Valley: Priceline, The Valley Plaza 2 - Friday July 9, 2.30pm – 3.15pm
Yagoona: Cedar Valley Meats - Saturday July 10, 1.30pm – 2pm
Greenacre: Mr Shawarma - Saturday July 10, 8.30pm – 8.45pm
Anyone who travelled on the following bus routes at the times listed is a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result
Redfern to Beaconsfield: 309 bus - Monday July 5, departed 5.49pm – arrived 5.56pm
Redfern to Beaconsfield: 309 bus - Tuesday July 6, departed 5.52pm – arrived 5.57pm
Fairfield Heights to Fairfield: 817 bus - Tuesday July 6, departed 2.19pm – arrived 2.22pm
Fairfield to Fairfield Heights: 800 bus - Tuesday July 6, departed 3.02pm – arrived 3.07pm
Haymarket to Forest Lodge: 438X bus - Tuesday July 6, departed 9.44am – arrived 9.50am
Ultimo to Haymarket: 438X bus - Thursday July 8, departed 7.09pm – arrived 7.15pm
Jannali to Kareela: 968 bus - Tuesday July 6, departed 2.32pm – arrived 2.39pm
Miranda to Kareela: 968 bus - Wednesday July 7, departed 12.35pm – arrived 12.54pm
Sydney to Neutral Bay: 173X bus - Thursday July 8, departed 6.24am – arrived 6.35am
Neutral Bay to Sydney: 170X bus - Thursday July 8, departed 8.23am – arrived 8.32am
Sydney to Zetland: 304 bus - Friday July 9, departed 2.46pm – arrived 3.09pm
Zetland to Sydney: 320 bus - Saturday July 10, departed 7.40am – arrived 7.57am
NSW Health also wishes to advise of additional times to previously announced venues. Anyone who attended these venues at the times listed is a close contact and must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result
Fairfield: iMedic iCare Medical Centre - Friday July 9, 8.30am - 6.30pm and Saturday July 10, 8.30am - 6.30pm
Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed is a casual contact who must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received
Glebe: Schnitz Broadway - Thursday July 8, 6.30pm – 6.45pm
Centennial Park: Centennial Homestead Caf̩ - Wednesday July 7, 12pm Р12.30pm
Camperdown: 7-Eleven service station - Tuesday July 6, 10am – 10.20am
Bankstown: Pharmacy 4 Less, Bankstown Central - Friday July 9, 9am - 9.15am
Bankstown: Kmart, Bankstown Central - Friday July 9, 11am – 11.30am
Bankstown: Big W, Bankstown Central - Friday July 9, 11am – 11.30am
Hurstville: No.1 Malatang Restaurant - Tuesday July 6. 5.10pm – 6pm
Bondi Junction: Australia Post, Westfield Bondi Junction - Tuesday July 6, 12.50pm – 1.10pm
Fairfield West: Coles Fairfield West - Saturday July 10, 12.30pm – 1.30pm
Casula: Kmart, Casula Mall - Thursday July 8, 6pm – 6.45pm
Wetherill Park: Woolworths Wetherill Park - Friday July 9, 3pm – 3.15pm, Saturday July 10, 12pm – 12.35pm
Oran Park: Woolworths Oran Park - Friday July 9, 6am – 2pm, Saturday July 10, 6am – 4pm, Sunday July 11, 6am – 11.20am
Anyone who travelled on the following train routes at the times listed is a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received
T2 Line: From Lidcombe Station to Auburn Station - Sunday July 4, departed 4.10pm, arrived 4.20pm
T2 Line: From Lidcombe Station to Redfern Station - Sunday July 4, departed 5.55pm, arrived 6.20pm
T9 Line: From Burwood Station to Wynyard Station - Monday July 5, departed 5.40am, arrived 6.02am
T8 Line: From Wynyard Station to Green Square Station - Monday July 5, departed 10.15am, arrived 10.33am
T8 Line: From Green Square Station to Wynyard Station - Monday July 5, departed 6.11pm, arrived 6.15pm
T9 Line: From Central Station to Burwood Station - Monday July 5, departed 6.23pm, arrived 6.34pm
T8 Line: From Green Square Station to Lidcombe Station - Monday July 5, departed 2.29pm, arrived 3pm
T2 Line: From Lidcombe Station to Redfern Station - Monday July 5, departed 5.24pm, arrived 5.47pm
T8 Line: From Kingsgrove Station to Circular Quay Station - Monday July 5, departed 5.43am, arrived 6.04am
T8 Line: From Circular Quay Station to Kingsgrove Station - Monday July 5, departed 3.07pm, arrived 3.36pm
T2 Line: From Lidcombe Station to Redfern Station - Tuesday July 6, departed 5.26pm, arrived 5.47pm
T4 Line: From Bondi Junction Station to Central Station - Tuesday July 6, departed 9.08am, arrived 9.28am
T4 Line: From Hurstville Station to Jannali Station - Tuesday July 6, departed 2.06pm, arrived 2.18pm
T4 Line: From Penshurst Station to Hurstville Station - Tuesday July 6, departed 10.21pm, arrived 10.34pm
T4 Line: From Hurstville Station to Miranda Station - Tuesday July 6, departed 11.49am, arrived 12.17pm
T3 Line: From Central Station to Sydenham Station - Saturday July 10, departed 2.28pm, arrived 2.42pm
T3 Line: From Sydenham Station to Central Station - Saturday July 10, departed 3.59pm, arrived 4.16pm
NSW Health also wishes to advise of additional times to previously announced venues. Anyone who attended these venues at the times listed is a casual contact who must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received
Fairfield Heights: Woolworths Fairfield Heights - Wednesday July 7, 6.45pm – 7.15pm
Roselands: Coles Roselands - Wednesday June 30, 4.45pm – 5.45pm, Wednesday July 7, 3.15pm – 4.05pm