Australia's NSW at 'critical stage' in relation to coronavirus - state premier

CORONAVIRUS | Australia's New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, will use harsh penalties to enforce self-isolation, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said today, as the coronavirus pandemic was at a "critical stage."

"We need to make sure everybody who's in self-isolation stays in self-isolation. We are ramping up our compliance," she told reporters. "There are harsh penalties and we'll enforce that. We have to take this seriously."

The number of Covid-19 cases in NSW jumped by 149 overnight to 818. The total number of cases across Australia has surpassed 1,700, up from less than 100 at the start of March.

Berejiklian did not specify how the self-isolation rules will be enforced.

She pointed to countries that did not control the spread of the virus early on.

"I don't want to be another example of a jurisdiction that didn't do what it needed to do at the right time," she said.

- Reuters