A new health order has been made by the NSW government
Essential workers in the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield will be tested for COVID-19 every three days, under a new public health order.
At a press conference this morning, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the new order made by health minister Brad Hazzard. People in Fairfield have been told not to leave home unless they absolutely have to and any essential workers will now be subject to regular testing.
"If you happen to have people on your work site or overseeing work or any time of activity in your private residence or commercial premises, please ask where they live and if they live or come from that area, a hotspot area, please ask when the last time was that they got tested," the Premier said. "That also will apply to people working in the regions."
The main spread of the ultra-infectious Delta variant has moved from the eastern suburbs to Western Sydney. Today the state recorded 89 new community cases and 21 had been in the community for their entire infectious period. The state also recorded another death, a man from the eastern suburbs, who has become the second person to die from COVID-19 during the latest outbreak.
The majority - three out of four - of cases recorded to 8pm yesterday are close contacts but there is still concern about essential workers from a number of local government areas. One case has also been recorded in the regional NSW town of Goulburn after a worker travelled to a construction site.
Pressed on what essential work actually is, Berejiklian admitted they do not have definition of what type of work is allowed and what isn't. She urged people to use common sense as to whether they needed to leave their home for work - particularly for those going into or out of western Sydney.
"It is so difficult, as Minister Hazzard has said, it is so, so difficult to have a precise rule for every single thing. That is why we rely on common sense. We rely on people to respect the intent of the health orders as well as the letter of the health orders," she said.
"Rather than looking for loopholes, we say to everybody stay at home unless you absolutely have to leave for work or essential shopping and there is rules around all those things. This is a time where everybody has to exercise their common sense."
NSW carried out 49,055 tests in the 24 hours to 8:00pm yesterday.
