Sydney records 145 new Covid cases overnight with 51 of which were infectious in the community 

New South Wales has recorded 145 new Covid-19 cases overnight, with 51 people in the community while infectious.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a press conference on Monday morning that the source of the infection for 79 of the new cases are under investigation. 

Fifty-five of the cases are linked to household contacts of known cases, and nine were other close contacts. 

‘It is really important for people not to leave home unless they absolutely have to and, in particular, do not mingle,’ Ms Berejiklian said.

There were 25 people who were active the community for part of their infectious period, and 11 cases are under investigation. 

No deaths were recorded overnight on Monday, after two were announced on Sunday – a 38-year-old woman, and another woman in her 70s. 

Pictured: A woman in a face mask walking in Covid-ravged Sydney on Monday morning

Pictured: Commuters in Sydney waiting for a tram in the CBD on Monday morning

Pictured: A woman in Sydney holding a sign while protesting lockdown rules on Saturda

Glady Berejiklian’s government made a request on Sunday for financial modelling that would assess the devastating effect of extending the Greater Sydney lockdown to September 17.

September 3 was initially floated as a potential date to end the shut down, The Australian reported, but that could be pushed back even further in the face of relentlessly rising case numbers and hospitalisations. 

The NSW government is fearful that Harbour City businesses will be decimated, with many unable to survive the gruelling shutdown without a huge financial support package from the federal government.

But after a further 141 Covid cases recorded on Sunday, including the shocking death of a young finance worker and more than 2,000 infections since June 16, authorities feel they have no choice. 

Internal government data suggests there is little chance stay-at-home restrictions can be lifted safely before the middle of September, prompting the Berejiklian government to request financial modelling that would spell out the potential damage. 

Despite much of the focus being on the ballooning case numbers in the city’s south-west, the region made up less than half of the new cases reported on Sunday with people still becoming infected all over the city.

The Australian reported that NSW Treasurer Dominic ­Perrottet is expected to submit a request to the federal government for the reintroduction of the JobKeeper wage to keep businesses and their workers afloat.

Several large companies that did not qualify for financial assistance during the current lockdown are already warning they will have to lay off workers.

Freedom Furniture informed about 100 workers in NSW they had been stood down, while cinema and hotel operator Event Hospitality & Entertainment have also warned they may have to do the same unless wage subsidy programs are implemented.

Scott Morrison over the weekend flagged a ‘truckload of financial support going in’ to NSW, which he said amounts to $500million a week.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) and the NSW crisis cabinet are set to meet on Monday morning to discuss what can be done about the surging number of Covid cases and the simultaneous anti-lockdown demonstrations that also took place in Sydney over the weekend

Two women are pictured strolling through Centennial Park on Sunday (pictured) as Sydney stares down the barrel of a brutally long lockdown extension

A toddler is seen greeting a woman in Sydney’s Surry Hills on Sunday (pictured) with stay-at-home restrictions set to be in place for many weeks to come 

‘We will continue to do what is necessary to ensure the recovery of our economy, to get to the other side of this when the lockdowns are lifted,’ the Prime Minister said.

‘The Treasurer and I and the expenditure review committee of cabinet, we meet regularly, we met this week.

‘We will continue to work through contingency options and prepare ourselves for whatever set of circumstances may present. So we’ll keep doing that’.

Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson said if the lockdown in Sydney continues, a flood of Commonwealth money will be needed as it was during the first wave of cases last year.

‘If we stay stuck in lockdowns for another couple of months – and not just in Sydney – then the way we’re doing it at the moment wouldn’t have the firepower needed to keep more businesses going and keep more workers connected to their businesses.

‘So we’re OK as we are for now. But if this gets much worse, then we should swap over to a tweaked JobKeeper. JobKeeper isn’t perfect either, but we know it gets some great results’.

Scott Morrison over the weekend flagged a ‘truckload of financial support going in’ to NSW, which he said amounts to $500million a week (pictured, a quiet George Street in Sydney)

Violent clashes broke out  between anti lockdown demonstrators and police in Sydney on Saturday (pictured) with fears the protest could have been a super-spreader event

NSW was rocked by the death of a ‘fit and healthy’ Brazilian finance worker on Sunday, who was in the final year of her Masters degree in Sydney.  

Adriana Midori Takara, 38, returned a positive test for the highly infectious Indian Delta variant on July 15 and succumbed to her illness less than two weeks later.

Friends claimed she contracted the virus from her roommate who works as a nurse, and despite trying to get an AstraZeneca vaccine, was denied by her doctor. 

Ms Takara had no underlying health conditions that would have contributed to her death and her distraught family back home were forced to say their final goodbyes over Zoom.

But the tearful conversation was one-way with Ms Takara never regaining consciousness after emergency heart surgery, after the viral infection spread to her heart. 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the young woman’s death should serve as a stark warning to those complacent about the virus that it does not discriminate.

South Australia, which has been in lockdown for nearly a week, is on track to ease restrictions as planned on Tuesday as long as no new mystery cases arise.

Like Victoria, some rules are likely to stay in place for longer including the one person per 4sqm rule in shops and hospitality venues. 

Source: DailyMail