An empty street is seen in Sydney, Australia, on July 5, 2021. Authorities of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said compliance is key to a smooth exit from the two-week lockdown, as 35 locally acquired COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday. (Photo by Hu Jingchen/Xinhua)
SYDNEY, July 5 -- Authorities of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said compliance is key to a smooth exit from the two-week lockdown, as 35 locally acquired COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday.
Of these local cases recorded in the past 24 hours as of 8:00 p.m. local time Sunday night, 33 were linked to previously confirmed cases or clusters, among which 20 were household contacts, and the source of infection for two cases remained under investigation. Two new overseas-acquired cases were recorded in the same period.
NSW Health said among the 35 cases, 24 were in isolation throughout their infectious periods and four cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period. Seven cases were infectious in the community.
The state government thanked the majority of people for following the imposed restrictions but also cited that a small number of people breaking the rules will result in more cases.
"I can say that the lockdown certainly has been effective in not doubling and tripling the figures that we were worried about, it's given our contact tracers the ability to maintain control over the virus," said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
"Unfortunately, having a party when you're not supposed to have a party is not doing the right thing ... Some of the cases today are the result of incidents where people have done the wrong thing."
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said over the past 24 hours, 125 infringement notices were issued to people in violation of the health orders.
"Some of those were for people in shopping centers ... People should be particularly concerned about wearing a mask and there were many people who chose not to do that, and they were reported and infringed by police," he said.
NSW's Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant refrained from comment on the potential of the lockdown being extended.
"Every day brings a new set of data and a new set of challenges and what we think in the morning can change in the afternoon," Chant said.
"What is most important at the moment is for the community to continue to follow the public health advice, continue to wear masks in indoor environments, and continue to come out in testing in the large numbers they have."
Altogether 58,373 tests were conducted in the state in the past 24 hours.
