NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has defended her frank remarks on non-compliance after multiple cases emerged around Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool.

Fairfield Council Mayor Frank Carbone and Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour have hit back at New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian after she singled out their local government areas for COVID criticism.

On Wednesday, Ms Berejiklian signalled tighter restrictions could be imposed on parts of Sydney’s south-west after multiple cases emerged in the Fairfield, Canterbury, Bankstown and Liverpool areas.

In a press conference on Thursday she attributed a spike in cases to non-compliance in the community and illegal household interactions.

Speaking to Sky News Australia on Thursday Mr Asfour said he did not want his local government area pitted against the rest of Greater Sydney leading to an “us and them” mentality.

“I think this is a problem that we’re all facing together in Greater Sydney and we need to do what is best for the entire community and we should not be singled out,” he said.

Mr Asfour pointed out while the majority were abiding by the health advice some people had become complacent.

He admitted to being concerned about a curfew being imposed on his area further limiting residents and putting extra pressure on vulnerable families.

Mr Asfour’s Fairfield counterpart blamed the spread of COVID-19 on a “failure of hotel quarantine” and lacklustre messaging in multicultural communities.

“To be really clear, this is really a failure of hotel quarantine,” Mr Carbone said.

He told Sky News Australia no one should be “pointing fingers” and blaming the spread on people’s backgrounds.

“I just think we’ve got to work out a way to stop the virus coming in from hotel quarantine, it’s a controlled area, that’s where everyone’s frustrated.

“Fairfield’s a perfect example, an area that never had the virus, but the virus spreads.

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“You need to contain it from its entry point, they need to put as much resources as possible to stop the virus coming in to play from the beginning.”

Ms Berejiklian defended her comments directed at the recent cases coming from Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool saying she had not meant to cause offence.

“We are here to make sure people know what the risk is … It is really important for me to say it like it is,” she told press on Thursday.

“Please note that when I say it like it is I don’t mean to cause offence, I just need to get the information out.

“If we don’t say it like it is, people won’t think about their own actions and behaviours and I think the people of this state would expect me to be honest and direct as specially at a time like this.”

The Premier said her words were driven by a sense of “care and compassion” and a desire to highlight the risks and move out of lockdown quickly.

The 38 infections recorded on Thursday marks the highest daily increase of local COVID cases in NSW this year. There were 27 cases reported on Wednesday, 18 on Tuesday and 35 on Monday.

It comes one day after Ms Berejiklian revealed Sydney’s two-week lockdown would be extended for another week until 11.59pm on July 16.

The current outbreak first emerged on June 16 after a Bondi limo driver who transports international aircrew contracted the virus.

Source via Sky News