Description 'Simple as that': Regions to go back into lockdown if they produce COVID case after reopening Sky News AustraliaNo viewsSep 7, 2021 NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says even if a regional area opens up again, if it produces a single positive case of COVID, it will automatically be plunged into a 14 day lockdown.
In Wednesday's media conference Mr Barilaro was asked what the criteria was for allowing regions to open back up and would they go back into lockdown if they produced a positive COVID case.
"Firstly, no decision has been made about releasing areas from lockdown in regional or rural NSW but the most likely areas, if you're going to consider it, are areas that have no cases – it's as simple as that," Mr Barilaro said during a media conference on Wednesday.
Mr Barilaro said if the government, in line with health advice, does make the decision to reopen those areas and they produce a COVID case, then "absolutely" they will go back into lockdown.
"If a case arises, we will apply the same logic that we apply from day one, which was the Orange case, where we put that community into lockdown and we would lockdown automatically an area for at least a 14-day period, which is the incubation period."