Premier Announces Closures from Noon Today

PREMIER Gladys Berejiklian has announced nationwide shutdowns of non-essential industry will be enforced from noon today, if your business or venue is not on the list published on www.nsw.gov.au, you can continue to operate.

Please note the website referenced by the Premier was inaccessible at time of publishing, hopefully this is rectified soon.

• People who can work from home are encouraged to do so.
• From tomorrow parents are encouraged to keep children at home. However, schools will remain open for parents who need to send their children to school. The Premier described this as a practical approach, since 30% of parents had opted not to send their children to school last week, however some parents such as front line workers may need to send their children to school.

Yesterday, the Premier announced shutdowns would occur in 48 hours, however the Premier said she is pleased the measures have been brought forward to midday today saying she wants a “no regrets policy” describing the pandemic as a “life and death issue.”

The NSW chief medical officer confirmed that there are now 669 confirmed cases of covid-19 in the state, with an increase of 136 cases in the last 24 hours, topping the previous highest increase of 97.

Of those cases 327 were overseas acquired, 155 are contacts of cases or linked in clusters which are under investigation, 65 were locally acquired and a number are under investigation.

There have been 10 cases requiring Intensive Care Unit support and six deaths to date.

Related stories: Local Coronavirus Response.