Huge rat is spotted roaming through the food court in an eerily empty Westfield shopping centre in Sydney during the city's crippling lockdown
An enormous rat has been spotted making itself at home in the empty food court of a popular Sydney shopping centre during the city's lockdown.
A shopper walking through the Parramatta Westfield filmed the rodent crawling underneath a table in the abandoned food court on Sunday.
The man uploaded the video to TikTok, where locked-down viewers were quick to poke fun at the furry intruder.
@leiffyy #fyp #tiktok
♬ original sound - Leif
#fyp #tiktok
♬ original sound - Leif#fyp #tiktok
A shopper walking through the Parramatta Westfield filmed one of the brazen rodents underneath a table in the abandoned food court on Sunday
'Hope he has a mask on,' one user commented.
'With restrictions in place, they are the ones going shopping,' another said.
'Has no mask. Needs a fine unless he has an exemption,' a third wrote.
'At least he's social distancing,' a fourth replied.
Westfield shopping centres are still open for trade during the state-wide lockdown, however locations in Bondi Junction, Burwood, Eastgardens, Hurstville and Parramatta have been included on the list of Covid-19 exposure sites.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Westfield Parramatta for comment.
A viewer of the TikTok video speculated the rats had invaded the centre after no longer having access to food scraps from eateries on the surrounding streets
Footage of the eerily empty shopping centre comes as NSW records 89 new local cases of Covid-19, with only 14 cases unlinked to known clusters
NSW on Wednesday recorded 89 new local cases of Covid-19, with only 14 unlinked to known clusters.
Authorities confirmed the state's second death since the latest outbreak, a man in his 70s, following a woman in her 90s who died on Sunday.
Of the new local cases, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 21 were infectious while out in the community, with 21 patients in intensive care units across the state.
'More than three quarters of all of those cases of community transmission were close family contacts,' she said.
Tuesday's figures come as a glimmer of hope for locked-down residents, as mystery infections are down from 48 cases recorded on Monday to just 14
'It reinforces the message that every time you risk going outside and doing the wrong thing, you risk bringing the virus home to those you love the most.'
The state's outbreak has seeped into regional areas, after a Covid-positive tradesman travelled from Sydney's south to Goulburn.
The infected man had been working at a construction site at Goulburn hospital when he tested positive.
Overnight, 21 new exposure venues were listed by NSW Health in the coronavirus-ravaged south-west, including two Woolworths, a Coles, a Big W and Kmart as well as 12 bus routes and 17 trains.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed the 'vast majority' of the 112 new community transmission in figures announced on Monday had occurred in the Fairfield local government area
Deputy Premier John Barilaro admitted 'we've lost control of the virus' and said more stringent lockdowns would be likely.
'We may have to go further or tighten restrictions in some local government areas, we accept that but what does that mean?' he told Sky News.
'It means making sure there's less movement of people going into homes, going into construction sites, going into retail.
'I don't believe we will get to the state of curfews and radiuses around where you can go and how much time you can spend in the open air.'
Premier Gladys 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.