As of Friday morning, Cumberland remains the only NSW local government area (LGA) still locked out of Victoria and Cr Christou said he had even bought “a box of Huggies” nappies to send to Mr Andrews’ electorate office.
“Because I can’t work out why he’d be excluding our residents,” Cr Christou said.
“I will not have our residents being treated like second class citizens by somebody who hasn’t even picked up the phone to liaise with anybody at Cumberland City Council to see what’s happening down here.”
Comparing the lockout to something out of an episode from the television show Yes, Minister, Cr Christou said he was gobsmacked by it and described the Victorian ‘traffic light’ system as “ridiculous”.
“Our people don’t deserve this,” he said.
However after having two negative tests himself since the pandemic began, he also urged everyone to get tested “no matter how mild” their symptoms might be.
“Don’t just brush them off,” he said.
“We encourage people to get tested, not just in Cumberland but in broader NSW.”
Although the last case associated with the ‘Berala Cluster’ was diagnosed on January 17, NSW Health warned that their sewage surveillance program detected fragments of the Covid-19 virus at sewage treatment plants in Camellia and Auburn on January 19 and 20.
The plants take in a catchment which includes Lidcombe, Rookwood, Silverwater, Clyde, Newington, Sydney Olympic Park, Old Guildford, Berala, Guildford, South Granville, Auburn, Regents Park, Merrylands, Holroyd, Granville, Merrylands West, and Guildford West.
A spokesperson said while this likely reflected known recent confirmed cases in these areas, everyone living or working in those areas was urged to monitor for symptoms and get tested and isolate immediately if they appeared.
Must get test if at any hotspots
NSW HEALTH is calling on anyone who visited the Auburn Hotel on January 12; Centrelink Auburn on January 14; and the Village Tavern in Auburn on December 28 or 29 or January 7, 8, 13 or 14, to get tested immediately and self-isolate until they get a negative result.
The list of locations associated with a confirmed Covid-19 case in the past 14 days, also includes the Auburn Central Shopping Centre and shops along Queen Street and South Parade between January 1-18, and the advice is to monitor for symptoms, and if they appear to isolate and get tested immediately.
