Australia Covid: Hundreds of panic-buyers hit up Double Bay Woolies

Hundreds of frenzied panic-buyers have descended on supermarkets across Sydney’s eastern suburbs to stockpile toilet paper and food, despite no shops closing over the seven day lockdown.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian imposed the stay-at-home order on Friday morning after the state recorded 11 new local Covid cases with a further 17 to be included in tomorrow’s numbers.

The lockdown, which will come into force from midnight and last seven days, applies to people who live or work in the Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and City of Sydney council areas. 

Photos of panic-buyers have already been plastered online, despite Ms Berejiklian calling for calm.

‘Please don’t panic buy. There is no need for that. You can go out and buy anything you need any time of the day. We don’t have curfew, we don’t have anything like that,’ she on Friday after announcing the new stay at home order.

Hundreds of mask-wearing customers were packed tightly into Woolworths in Double Bay within just hours of the announcement.

Hundreds of mask-wearing customers were packed tightly into Woolworths in Double Bay within just hours of the stay at home announcement

A shopper captured a photo of Coles in Bondi Junction, where the toilet paper aisle had been wiped clean

The panic buying has spread as far south as Wollongong, where no lockdown has even been imposed

No major supermarkets have re-introduced buying limits on toilet paper, but frustrated shoppers have called out others for stockpiling. Left: Bondi, right: Wollongong  

Photos of panic-buyers have already been plastered online, despite Ms Berejiklian calling for calm. Pictured: Woolworths Double Bay

Photos of panic-buyers have already been plastered online, despite Ms Berejiklian calling for calm. Pictured: Woolworths Double Bay 

A shopper captured a photo of Coles in Bondi Junction where the toilet paper aisle had been already wiped clean.

The panic buying spread as far south as Wollongong, despite no lockdown being imposed in the Illawarra region.

No major supermarkets have re-introduced buying limits on toilet paper, but frustrated shoppers have called out others for stockpiling. 

‘Not panic buying toilet paper again Sydney,’ one person wrote on Twitter alongside a photo of empty supermarket shelves.

‘I am still wondering why do people think toilet paper needs to be completely collected off the shelf every time there is a lockdown?’ another tweeted.

Eleven of the cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday night, six of which were already reported. There were 17 further infections which will be recorded in Saturday’s tally. 

There are now 65 cases linked to the Bondi cluster that erupted in the city’s east last week.

Frustrated shoppers took photos of bare shelves

Neither supermarket giant has reintroduced buying limits on toilet paper

In scenes reminiscent of the first wave of Covid in March 2020, Coles and Woolworths shelves across Sydney have again been stripped bare of loo roll

Frustrated shoppers have called out others for once again stockpiling toilet paper

Frustrated shoppers have called out others for once again stockpiling toilet paper 

The lockdown applies to residents who live or have worked part-time or full-time in the hotspot suburbs (pictured) in the past two weeks

The lockdown applies to residents who live or have worked part-time or full-time in the hotspot suburbs (pictured) in the past two weeks 

Residents and visitors to the Eastern suburbs continue to get tested for COVID-19 at St Vincent's Hospital pop-up testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Friday

Residents and visitors to the Eastern suburbs continue to get tested for COVID-19 at St Vincent’s Hospital pop-up testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Friday

People who live or work in the four LGAs will not be able to leave home for a week except for essential purposes.

These include work or education, shopping, providing care or outside exercise.

‘If you live or work in those Local Government Areas, you need to stay at home unless absolutely necessary,’ Ms Berejiklian said. 

Ms Berejiklian warned the lockdown could be extended to more suburbs if required.

‘There will be things that come up in the next little while that none of us had anticipated and we will have to react and respond. 

‘We are not ever going to pretend that what we have in place is enough, or what we have in place is perfect,’ she said.

Australian Medical Association boss Dr Omar Khorshid called for the whole of Sydney to be locked down, saying the rules ‘are not quite enough’.

‘We need everyone in Sydney to do the right thing and stay at home,’ he said. 

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant explained why millions of residents who work in the CBD but do not live in hotspot suburbs have been locked down.

‘The rationale for including the stay-at-home order to follow the workers is because we know that many of the workers do live outside those geographical LGAs.

‘We want them to follow those stay-at-home orders so we don’t establish seeding in Western Sydney and southwestern Sydney,’ she said. 

Dr Chant described the lockdown as a ‘circuit-breaker’.

The NSW government was reportedly warned about the dangers of taxi drivers transporting flight crew from Sydney Airport four months ago but did not tighten health regulations.  

Under a state public health order, international arrivals are not allowed to take ride share vehicles, public transport or taxis – but the order does not apply to flight crew. 

A New South Wales Transport Workers Union official raised the issue with NSW Health but was told ‘the airlines are in charge’, a source told The Australian.

Some supermarkets reported they still had plenty of toilet paper, while others said they only had a little stock left

Some supermarkets reported they still had plenty of toilet paper, while others said they only had a little stock left

There were 18 new cases recorded from 48,402 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, 13 of which were announced previously

There were 18 new cases recorded from 48,402 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, 13 of which were announced previously 

The rules state that airlines must organise ‘appropriate transportation’ to take foreign crew to government quarantine and crew who live locally to their homes.  

The driver, who is in his 60s, said he was scared of blood clots – an extremely rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is only recommended in Australia for people over the age of 60. 

Jon Bailey's hair salon in Double Bay is deep cleaned on Thursday due to the outbreak

Jon Bailey’s hair salon in Double Bay is deep cleaned on Thursday due to the outbreak 

He told A Current Affair that he had a family history of blood clots and was not an anti-vaxxer.

But Health Minister Brad Hazzard said there was ‘no excuse’ because he could have got the Pfizer vaccine due to his front-line role. 

Meanwhile, famed Sydney salon boss Joh Bailey warned more than 1,000 customers and staff at his flagship outlet in Double Bay have been exposed to coronavirus by an infected hairdresser.

It was initially revealed that the hairdresser, who lives in western Sydney, worked three consecutive nine-hour shifts at the salon from Thursday June 17 to Saturday June 19.

But in a another worrying development on Thursday night, NSW Health announced that the salon had been exposed to coronavirus for nine full days – from the moment it opened to the second it closed – between June 15 and June 23. 

Skin Medi Spa and Wellness, in the same complex is under a similar order with anyone who visited from Wednesday June 16 to 23 Wednesday – at all times – urged to isolate and get tested immediately.

Limo driver in his 60s claims he was not vaccinated as he was scared

This is the limo driver who caught the virus from international air crew and spread it around Sydney without realising

This is the limo driver who caught the virus from international air crew and spread it around Sydney without realising

‘He is very scared and concerned,’ revealed A Current Affair reporter, Lauren Golman, who interviewed the driver on Thursday night.

‘He’s been receiving a lot of criticism and he is worried about his safety and his family safety.’

The unnamed driver is in isolation as he fights his Covid infection and was too ill and too scared of the public backlash to show his face onscreen to defend himself.

But Golman told host Tracy Grimshaw he admitted he had avoided getting the AstraZeneca vaccination for fear of the possible side effects.

‘He is over the age of 60 which means he is eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine,’ Golman said.

‘He tells me he has a family history of blood clots and he didn’t feel comfortable getting the vaccine.

‘He says he has been working with his doctor, they talk regularly, they tried to come up with a plan but at this stage he is too afraid to have the AstraZeneca vaccine.’

But Health Minister Brad Hazzard said there was ‘no excuse’ because he could have got the Pfizer vaccine due to his front-line role. 

Although the driver was in an apparently high-risk occupation on the frontline with international workers, vaccination was not mandatory, but strongly recommended.

There was no explanation why he hadn’t been vaccinated with the Pfizer jab instead, but Golman stressed the driver was not an anti-vaxxer.

Golman added: ‘He has not received any kind of pressure or encouragement to have the vaccine. I’m not sure if he has had conversations with his employer.’ 

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