The NSW government has reimposed a lockdown on the Northern Beaches section of Sydney.
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From 5pm today until at least Wednesday, residents of the area at the centre of the new coronavirus outbreak will be urged to stay home apart from for essential activities stipulated as:
- work
- exercise
- on compassionate grounds
- essential shopping
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there were 23 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday night. Ten of those cases had already been reported.
That means there are an extra 13 cases compared with what we knew on Friday.
All but two of those 23 cases have been linked to the existing cluster around Avalon. The other two were still being investigated.
The state premier said she expected a similar number of new cases to emerge in the next 24 hours.
"Given what we know from the testing, given what we know from the likely number of cases, we are going to put in health orders for the northern beaches from five o'clock today to essentially go back to the restrictions people experienced in March," she said.
The premier has also asked the rest of Sydney to avoid unnecessary activity.
"Please limit your activity," she said. "We are asking you to do this in good faith.
"If you are planning a night out, we ask you to change your plans and stay at home."
She said that further restrictions were possible, depending on discussions being held today, and flagged the possibility of further restrictions being put in place tomorrow for the Greater Sydney area.
The health authorities said that their action over the next four days were in the hope of lifting restrictions by Christmas.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said "we're all going through this together" and urged Northern Beaches residents to obey the rules".
"We don't want to be responsible for seeding this across Sydney or NSW, or indeed anywhere else."
The state's Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the "vast majority" of cases in the Northern Beaches were linked to the Avalon RSL and bowling club.
Ms Berejiklian said some people from other parts of Sydney had visited the Avalon RSL and Bowlo on the Sunday, "so we're making sure we have considered that there hasn't been any spread of the disease in greater Sydney".
The ACT has not changed its advice which is:
- Do not to travel to the Northern Beaches area of Sydney. People from the Northern Beaches area should also not travel to the ACT.
- Anyone who has visited the Northern Beaches area since Friday, December 11 December must self-quarantine for 14 days from the date they were last there and get tested, even if they do not have symptoms. People must stay in quarantine for the whole 14 days even if they have a negative test result.
There have been no new cases in the ACT in the past 24 hours and there were no active cases.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
