Sydney records 50 new Covid cases and a TEENAGER fights for life with the virus - as Gladys Berejiklian warns 'things are going to get worse' and experts say lockdown could last until AT LEAST the end of August
New South Wales recorded 50 new coronavirus cases on Saturday after three-consecutive days of record numbers as the premier warned 'things are going to get worse before they get better'.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the new cases in a press conference in Sydney after introducing further restrictions on the current stay-at-home-orders on Friday.
She says 'most concerningly' there were 26 active cases in the community, saying too many residents were 'cutting corners' and 'flouting the rules'.
'That is the number we need to get down to as close to zero as possible,' Ms Berejiklian said.
'When you know that there are 26 cases infectious in the community, the only conclusion we can draw is that things are going to get worse before they get better.'
She also hinted that the Greater Sydney lockdown, which is entering its third week, is likely to be extended as case numbers skyrocket.
'I think it is pretty clear that unless we reduce that level of people in the community that are infectious, we won't be able to turn things around as quickly as we can or as quickly as we should,' the premier said.
Dr Kerry Chant said there are 47 people currently in hospital being treated for the virus with 16 in intensive care including a teenager, a person in their 20s and person in their 30s.
Of the 47 in hospital, 37 were unvaccinated. No one that has been double vaccinated is currently in hospital.
Police issued more than 160 fines for breaching protocol in the last 24 hours, including five people being busted for throwing a house party in Sydney's east.
New South Wales recorded 50 new coronavirus cases on Saturday after three-consecutive days of record numbers
Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the new cases in a press conference in Sydney after introducing further restrictions on the current stay-at-home-orders on Friday
Premier Berejiklin refused to be drawn into comments about extending the Greater Sydney lockdown but said she expects cases 'to get worse before they get better'
Ms Berejiklian lamented people giving misleading or untruthful information when being contacted by NSW Health officials, pleading for Sydneysiders to be honest with their actions and exposure.
'One message I really want to get across to people who have been diagnosed with COVID, please tell us the truth the first time around,' she said.
'When people withhold information, it means that their contacts are infectious - potentially infectious in the community. Eventually our health contact tracers get to the truth.
'Please tell the truth from the first minute rather than after repeated conversations, because otherwise you put your closest family and friends at the greatest risk, and that is something we don't want to see.'
There were 38 new cases announced Thursday and 44 Friday, both the highest days recorded since the start of the pandemic.
Saturday's figure deepens the growing crisis with the highly-infectious Delta strain.
There are currently 47 people who have been hospitalised as a result of the virus, with Dr Chant urging people to take it seriously.
'I'm making an impassioned plea for the community this weekend to follow the advice we've provided, and I think -- diligently the advice we've provided and I think you will understand my growing level of concern that we need to bring these case numbers down,' she said.
'I think what we are seeing is chains of transmission and we are having difficulty geting ahead of those chains.'
She confirmed the teenager currently suffering from the virus in ICU is not on a ventilator.
Police confirmed 167 fines were handed out in the last 24 hours, including a party in Randwick in Sydney's east involving eight men.
There was also a party in The Entrance on the Central Coast involving five adults and a minor.
Of the 100 fines, 67 came from Sydney's south-west - an area being targetted extensively by police to attempt to slow the virus' spread.
Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said police will continue their high-visibility movement in the suburbs despite claims of racism and double standards.
There were 72 people fined for failing to wear masks and 96 for leaving home without a reasonable excuse.
Ms Berejiklian lamented people giving misleading or untruthful information when being contacted by NSW Health officials, pleading for Sydneysiders to be honest with their actions and exposure
There were 38 new cases announced Thursday and 44 Friday, both the highest days recorded since the start of the pandemic
'I think it is pretty clear that unless we reduce that level of people in the community that are infectious, we won't be able to turn things around as quickly as we can or as quickly as we should,' the premier said
Sydney's weather is set to be a boost for officials in containing the virus spreading further as rain lashes the Harbour City
The announcement comes as five million Sydneysiders could be stuck in lockdown until at least August, a leading infectious disease expert has claimed.
Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said it would take 'at least a month' to get Covid numbers down and even longer to eliminate community transmission completely.
'You expect cases, sadly, in family clusters, but the ones outside isolation are the ones that are telling you there's a lot of circulating virus,' she told Weekend Today.
'My projections are that it's going to take at least a month to get those down.'
Professor McLaws said it was concerning to see over half of the new Covid cases detected not having isolated.
'At the moment that (proportion has) been very high, anywhere between a half of all people diagnosed to 60 per cent – and that has to get down to zero.'
Her grim warning comes as tensions mount in south-west Sydney, where 100 extra police officers have been sent to ensure compliance in worrying Covid hotspots.
Furious residents in the targeted local government areas - Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool - have questioned why Sydney's eastern suburbs are not receiving the same police attention.
Under the tough new rules, which came into effect at 5pm on Friday, exercise is limited to groups of two, browsing is banned at shops and residents can still only leave their homes for one of the four essential reasons.
Hours earlier, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had announced the state recorded 44 new cases, marking the worst day of the current virus outbreak.
Sydney could be in lockdown until at least August, as tensions mount over extra police attention in the city's Covid-hit west and south-west
Mary-Louise McLaws, professor of epidemiology at UNSW, claimed it could be five weeks before community transmission of the Indian Delta variant of Covid 19 slows in Sydney
Dramatic video emerged on Friday of Rami Ykmour - the founder of popular Rashays eatery - was arrested after refusing to provide his details to officers while two of his staff were fined for not wearing face masks
Members of the public have already been arrested with officers spotted escorting a handcuffed man outside of a shopping centre in Fairfield
Ms Berejiklian has warned to expect an even bigger spike in cases on Saturday.
Backlash to the police response hit a low point on Thursday when a high-profile restaurant chain owner was dramatically arrested and charged during the crackdown in southwest Sydney.
Rami Ykmour - the founder of the hugely popular Rashays eatery - was arrested after refusing to provide his details to officers while two of his staff were fined for not wearing face masks at the company's head office at Chester Hill on Thursday.
'The sending in of police into Western Sydney is about signally that Australian citizens are not 'one of us' because they're from migrant backgrounds,' claimed Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
'It's about saying we don't belong. That we someone care less about our families and communities.'
'It's debased dirty racism. Enough,' said Mr Karapanagiotidis.
A lawyer specialising in 'police accountability' with the Redfern Legal Advice Centre said a better response would be improved community support.
'Targeting communities in south-western Sydney with more police and more fines seems disproportionate and unjust,' said Samantha Lee, solicitor in the police accountability practice at Redfern Legal Centre.
'All communities need equal access to health information, resources and support to get through this difficult time. Increasing penalties to lower economic areas is not the answer.'
Some furious residents in Sydney's west claimed the decision to send extra police officers to the western suburbs was an example of 'debased racism'
But Gladys Berejiklian warned things could get tougher for Sydney.
'Unless there's a dramatic turnaround in the numbers, I can't see how we'll be in a position to ease restrictions by next Friday,' the premier said.
'(This is) the greatest threat we have faced in NSW since the pandemic started … at the moment the numbers are not heading in the right direction.'
Twenty-nine of the cases recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday were in the community for some or all of their infectious period.
The premier said a premature reopening of Greater Sydney would result in thousands of coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and deaths.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday advised Sydneysiders to 'push through' and comply with restrictions.
'Hopefully (the lockdown is) as brief as it can be, but as long as it has to be, to ensure that we suppress the virus and this most recent outbreak and we're able to get back to where we were a few weeks ago,' Mr Morrison told Nine's A Current Affair on Friday evening.
The state's health department on Friday issued alerts for 30 more venues across Sydney.
Several places are listed close contact exposure sites for periods of seven hours or longer.
They include an Ikea at Tempe, where a staffer worked whilst infectious, and a construction site at Homebush.
Seven furniture stores along the same road in Campbelltown have also been identified as venues of concern for visitors on Sunday afternoon.
Other venues include Westfield Burwood, two Bunnings shops, in Randwick and Hoxton Park, a Miranda Service NSW, medical centres in Liverpool and Wetherill Park, and numerous supermarkets.
The number of close contacts isolating across NSW doubled in 24 hours, from 7000 to 14,000, Ms Berejiklian said on Friday.
Under the new restrictions, only one person per household may leave the home for shopping each day. Residents cannot exercise further than 10km from their home.
Funerals will be limited to 10 people.
Ten COVID-19 patients in NSW are in intensive care, with four ventilated - one person aged in their 20s.