NSW has seen some "pleasing" signs the lockdown is working, but authorities say the lifting of the stay-at-home order will depend on how well residents can stick to the rules.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Photo: AFP
NSW yesterday recorded 16 new Covid-19 cases- the lowest number since the 14-day lockdown was imposed on Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour.
It came after cases peaked on Saturday, with 35 locally acquired infections recorded. On Friday there were 31.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said case numbers could still "bounce around" but Sunday's figures were "where we want them to be".
However compliance with public health orders over the the coming days would be "absolutely critical" for whether the lockdown would end as planned at midnight on 9 July.
"It only takes one or two people not to do the right thing for things then to go up," she said.
"It really stresses me out when we hear examples of businesses not doing the right thing, of individuals not wearing masks when they need to," Ms Berejiklian said.
"Because when people don't do the right thing - even if it's a handful - it impacts the rest of us.
"We don't want to see that jeopardise the good work we've been doing."
NSW Police issued 86 infringement notices on Saturday, including 55 fines of $A200 to those not wearing a mask.
Among those fined $A1000 for breaching public health orders were four people found travelling west of the Blue Mountains at Little Hartley, 150km from their home in Maroubra.
Thirteen others, including NRL player Paul Vaughan, were also each fined $1,000 after he hosted 11 visitors including other St George Illawarra Dragons players in his Shellharbour home.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said case numbers failed to tell the whole story and several other factors would be considered before any decision on lockdown was made.
"The pure numbers can belie the true facts beneath it," Chant said.
"The sort of things we're interested in is whether people have been in isolation for the full infectious period, and therefore posing no risk of onward transmission."
Chant said the number of unlinked cases were also considered, along with where those unlinked cases were emerging.
Testing rates and whether there were any undetected cases discovered via the state's sewage surveillance program were also important deciding factors on whether lockdown should end, Chant said.
"That's the type of more holistic information we give to government in making these decisions," she said.
"The lesson in Covid is that one day does not make a trend."
While case numbers are moving in the right direction, so too are the number of people in isolation when they test positive.
At the beginning of the lockdown, just 33 to 36 per cent of people who tested positive were in isolation for their entire infectious period.
In the past two reporting periods, that figure had increased to 65 per cent and 81 per cent, respectively.
Of the 16 new cases on Sunday, all but three were fully isolated.
Of the 161 locally acquired cases recorded in the past seven days, 144 are linked to a known case or cluster and 17 are still under investigation.
Both the Premier and Dr Chant warned people to do the right thing and follow public health orders.
"We know in a perfect world, if 100 per cent of people did everything we asked them to do, that we would have a situation where we could see us coming out of the lockdown in a timely way," Ms Berejiklian said.
"We want to see that happen so the next few days are absolutely critical."
- ABC