The moment Gladys Berejiklian defends Sydney's 'light lockdown' and shuts down reporter who demands to know why florists and clothes shops aren't being forced to close or cop $5,000 fines
- Gladys Berejiklian has defended her decision not to define 'essential services'
- A reporter asked why florists and clothing stores are allowed to remain open
- Premier said on Sunday she trusts Sydneysiders to follow the lockdown rules
- Covid cases ballooned by 35 infections on Saturday and 16 on Sunday
Gladys Berejiklian has defended allowing florists and clothes stores to open without being hit with $5,000 fines during Sydney's lockdown.
Sydney, Wollongong, the Blue Mountains, and the Central Coast are in their second week of lockdown with Covid cases rising by 35 on Friday and 15 on Saturday.
Residents must stay at home unless they have to buy groceries, care for a loved one, visit the doctor, or go to work, and requested that only essential services remain open for business - though the definition of 'essential' appears vague.
The NSW premier stood her ground again when questioned about why the lockdown wasn't as strict as those in other states during a press conference on Sunday.
Pictured: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaking to the media during a press conference in Sydney on Sunday. She said people in Sydney are following the lockdown rules
'It seems the Delta variant is a lot more virulent, yet the freedoms exercised by people in Sydney right now seem to be greater than the lockdown last year,' a reporter asked.
'We're seeing florists open, clothing stores open. What possible justification is there and why are we requesting these people to do the right thing rather than enforcing?'
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Ms Berejiklian insisted the restrictions went far enough and did not need tightening, and she was confident Sydneysiders were largely doing the right thing.
'We think very strongly that the rules we've put in place are vastly being respected. There will always be exceptions,' she replied.
'But also we appreciate that when you're asking the population to stay at home, except for essential services or essential matters, that you need to provide those opportunities.
'And I want to provide confidence to our citizens that we only burden them to the extent we need to. But we ask everybody not to leave home unless you absolutely have to.
'And I just appeal to everybody to do the right thing. But I think our citizens also know that by doing the right thing, we can achieve what we need to together.
'But if too many people don't do the right thing, well, then, that's cause for concern.'
'Most of us are making sure that we don't visit relatives or make sure that when we are wanting to interact with others that it's a safe, outdoor setting, and that's really the case.'
A reporter asked why florists are allowed to remain open, along with clothes stores. Pictured: A florist in Sydney during lockdown
The reporter also asked why some stores were fined for remaining open during 2020 lockdowns
During the height of lockdown in 2020, residents were only allowed in outdoor public spaces if they were exercising with other members of their household.
While the Delta variant of Covid-19 is on the loose in the Bondi area and the city's western suburbs, Sydneysiders have far greater freedoms this time round.
They are allowed to exercise in outdoor fitness classes with 10 people or less
The reporter piped up again and pointed out that during the state's first lockdown in 2020, non-essential businesses were fined about $5000 for staying open for business.
'Have there been $5000 fines for businesses just for being open?' he asked.
But Ms Berejiklian defended her decisions again and fired shots at other states for directly outlining what an essential service looks like.
'Can I make it very clear that New South Wales, unlike other states, has never determined what is essential and what is not essential when it comes to businesses,' she said.
Pictured: A store selling children's wares in Sydney. The definition of an 'essential service' is ill-defined
Ms Berejiklian warned that even though numbers were trending in the right direction, just a handful of people 'doing the wrong thing' could derail it
'We have exactly the same rules that we had in last time, so any suggestion that these rules are different to last time isn't correct.'
Last week, the owner of Golden Cuts in Auburn copped a $5,000 fine for staying open for staying open for businesses, and thereby breaching public health orders.
The ill-defined nature of essential services includes supermarkets, hardware stores and even some clothing shops such as Kmart, but there has been mass confusion over which small businesses are allowed to continue operating.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Sunday that 14 of the stat'e 16 new cases were linked to previously confirmed infections.
Thirteen were already in isolation, one was in isolation for part of their infectious period and the remaining two were in the community while infectious.
Three residents at Summit Care's aged care facility in Baulkham Hills, western Sydney, also tested positive to the virus.
The results come after 45,079 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.
The figure is a positive sign that Sydney and surrounding regions are on track to come out of lockdown on July 9.
Ms Berejiklian warned that even though numbers were trending in the right direction, just a handful of people 'doing the wrong thing' could derail it.
She said she was pleased to see the cases 'go the right way'.
'But I do say cautiously that that could still bounce around,' she said.
'And we've seen in the last few days how easy it is for people to unintentionally do the wrong thing, or intentionally do the wrong thing, and that can result in more cases which is something we don't want to see.'
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