One of Australia's top Muslim leaders reveals why there's 'less co-operation' with Sydney's lockdown laws in his Covid-hit community
- Sydneysiders from 'other backgrounds' under fire from the NSW health minister
- Brad Hazzard accused ethnic groups of not complying with lockdown rules
- Muslim leader says making adjustment has been difficult for many residents
- Sheik Azzam Mesto is leading efforts to increase cooperation with sermons
A Muslim leader in the worst-hit area of Sydney's coronavirus outbreak says flouting of public health orders and resistance to government stay-at-home orders by the local community was always going to happen due to cultural traditions.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that people of 'other backgrounds' were responsible for the continued high case numbers in western and southwest Sydney by not following health orders, saying there was no way to legislate against their 'stupidity, arrogance and entitlement'.
Sheik Azzam Mesto from the Rahma Mosque in Old Guildford in Sydney's west said getting close-knit families from ethnic communities to stay away from each other, end visits and stop socialising was always going to be a major obstacle.
Sydney's ethnic communities have been forced to change their ways to comply with lockdown rules. Pictured are Sydneysiders at a vaccination clinic at the Lebanese Muslim Association in Lakemba
'We are a close culture, with people who visit and care for one another and visit the sick, visit the needy, visit families. We do have large families, obviously. So making the adjustment has been difficult on the collective,' Sheik Mesto told The Australian.
The Sheik is leading community efforts to urge residents to change their ways in the coming weeks to help drive down case numbers which are heavily based in the contiguous suburbs of the west.
The mosque has developed sermons to encourage people to socially distance and to not visit family and friends unless for compassionate reasons.
'But it's very hard to change your ways overnight. So you know, there could be less co-operation, generally speaking, because we're generally people who have a stronger custom,' Sheik Mesto said.
'And that's just a little bit harder to break. And it takes time to make those adjustments.'
Share this article
Sheik Azzam Mesto from the Rahma Mosque is leading efforts to increase public cooperation
He says the message is gradually getting across, with growing numbers eager to get the Covid vaccine.
Sheik Mesto's mosque is in the Cumberland Council LGA, which has recorded almost 700 cases since the outbreak began on June 16.
Meanwhile, another mosque in Lakemba in Sydney's south-west has also been transformed into a pop-up vaccination clinic.
The Canterbury-Bankstown LGA remains the epicentre of the outbreak with 1242 cases as a police crackdown on community compliance ramps up.
Multicultural communities in Covid-19 ravaged hotspots in the city's west and south-west have been accused of not complying and cooperating with lockdown. Pictured is a vaccination clinic at a mosque in Lakemba
Of the 356 cases recorded on Tuesday, almost two-thirds were found in Sydney's west and south-west.
Mr Hazzard claimed on Tuesday that people from 'other backgrounds' are not obeying health orders and spreading Covid in Sydney.
'There are other communities and people from other backgrounds who don't seem to think that it is necessary to comply with the law and who don't really give great consideration to what they do in terms of its impact on the rest of the community,' the minister said.
'I do say to them, you need to because otherwise the forces of the law are coming after you.'
Sydney's south-west remains the epicentre of the city's Covid outbreak crisis. Pictured are residents in Bankstown
