Sydney lockdown extended for one month as NSW records 644 COVID-19 cases, four deaths

Greater Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown has been extended until the end of September and a raft of new restrictions — including a curfew — will be introduced after NSW recorded 644 new infections.

It means the lockdown, which has already lasted for eight weeks, will run for at least 13.

A curfew will be introduced for people in Sydney’s 12 local government areas (LGAs) of concern, which are already subjected to extra restrictions because they are virus hotspots.

From midnight on Monday, August 23, people in Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith and Strathfield must stay home between 9:00pm and 5:00am.

It will also be mandatory for everyone in NSW to wear a mask while outside their home from midnight on Monday, unless they are exercising.

In Sydney’s LGAs of concern, people may only exercise outdoors for one hour per day from Monday.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described the new restrictions as “final measures”.

“The reason we are extending lockdown for another month and the reason we are imposing these additional measures in those local government areas of concern is because the vaccine takes at least two to three weeks for the first dose to have effect,” she said.

“We are throwing everything at this and doing everything we can and now it is time to bunker down.”

She said new LGAs could be added to the areas of concern if more cases were detected.

“On the flip side, if we see a particular local government area respond well in terms of the case numbers we can take those areas out,” she said.