Sydney businesses have received another blow with lockdown set to be extended for another week

Greater Sydney’s lockdown has been extended by seven days, with a threat of even tougher restrictions in the city’s southwest, after 27 new locally acquired cases were reported.

Only 13 of those cases were already in isolation.

The state premier expressed concern the Delta variant had now established a foothold in a number of suburbs in the south-west.

The existing lockdown will run until Friday midnight, 16 July, but Ms. Berejiklian said residents in Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, and Liverpool may face stiffer orders to stop the movement of people.

Many businesses say they are on the edge of collapse and are calling for more government support.

Multiple industries have been forced to close, while others are resorting to operational changes – such as cafe shops and hospitality venues shifting to takeaway only.

The relief package available to businesses

A relief package to help Sydney businesses cope with the financial impacts of the city’s lockdown has been put into place to help operators recoup lost revenue and claim unused stock.

Lobbying from industry groups has meant the support package will echo the one provided to northern beaches businesses over the Christmas lockdown in 2020.

Sydney’s first two weeks in lockdown wiped around $2 billion off Australia’s gross domestic product , with a quarter of the national economy forced to stay home.

Restaurant and Catering Association chief executive Wes Lambert stated that hospitality organisations lost around $70 million in binned stock over the first weekend of lockdown.