Dad to miss twin birthday party
Premier announces lockdown: ‘We need to do it properly’
lockdown last night.
“Everything was set in concrete and then out of nowhere all this just started happening,” Agamalis said of the lockdown.
“It’s very terrible that I have to miss out on that but I do understand.”
From 6pm yesterday, all of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong went into lockdown until midnight on July 9.
“It’s really taken an impact on me because now I am going to have to spend my kids’ birthday on a video phone call.”
But a video call isn’t the same as being there in person, Agamalis explains.
“It really sucks because they’re building a relationship between me on the phone and not in person.”
Being their second birthday and the first time they would be reunited with their dad for nearly a year, a big party was planned alongside other events including a trip to the aquarium.
The timing of Agamalis’ trip would also mean together he and Joyce could transition the toddlers into daycare.
Fortunately, Agamalis’ flights were able to be moved with no extra charge and he hopes to return to Auckland in July depending on the travel bubble and Sydney’s Covid-19 situation.
“It gave me some light at the end of a very dark tunnel,” he said.
Millions of NSW residents will go into lockdown in the state’s latest attempt to stamp out infections spreading across greater Sydney.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday announced further rules for NSW as infections in the state infections increased to 82 cases.
Starting 6pm yesterday, all of Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong went into a lockdown with stay-athome orders until midnight, Friday July 9. No curfew has been implemented.
This means residents will only be able to leave to home for four reasons.
● Work or education which must be done outside the home
● If you need to seek medical attention
● Out door exercise
● Care or compassionate grounds Previously only residents who lived or worked in four LGAs:
Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and City of Sydney council areas, were under stay-at-home-orders which
were originally put in place until 11.59pm, Friday July 2.
Numbers released yesterday reported 29 locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. This included 12 new cases, while 17 of those were announced yesterday.
Speaking about the factors which led to the latest lockdown, Dr Kerry Chant said there have been a large amount of unknowingly infectious cases in the community for “a number of days”.
According to the Chief Medical
Officer, contact tracers were able to identify a missing link between exposure venues which “unearthed a large number of cases”. Among this was a workplace cluster, and other cases which have been linked to that transmission.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has called on NSW residents to stay at home, stressing to employers to implement work-from-home orders where possible.
“That’s a clear requirement to stop the movement around our communities,” he said.
“So again, I apologise to the business sector, but I think we’ve found that we can be extremely productive with our workers working at home.”
He once again asked people to cease “moving around,” in order to “defeat the virus”.
“Don’t play games with yourself and with the community.
“Please stay at home unless you really need to go out or you have one of the four reasons, and even then, think twice before you do it.”
Berejiklian has also warned NSW residents to expect more cases amid claims the Delta variant is far more transmissible than previous variants.
“We do need to brace ourselves for potentially larger number of cases in the following days and that’s why it’s so important that we take action now,” she said.
“We know the drill and I’m just asking everybody not to cut corners because if just a handful of people cut corner, all of us end up in a very difficult situation.”
Berejiklian also explained why the cabinet has opted for a two-week lockdown over a three-day snap lockdown.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to do it properly,” she said.
“There’s no point doing a threeday and then having the virus continue to bubble away in the community.”