NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has insisted the state's health orders are strict enough even as daily case numbers continue to set new records.
The state recorded 633 local cases of Covid-19 today, with the source of infection for 475 of those cases still under investigation.
During a heated exchange with Sky News Australia reporter Andrew Clennell, Berejiklian said the government would not consider implementing tighter restrictions across Greater Sydney.
"Premier, what is it going to take? Is it going to take 1,000 cases as day, 1,200 cases a day, before you institute a proper stage 4 lockdown? This lockdown is not as hard as in New Zealand, as in Melbourne," Clennell asked. "How many cases a day is it going to take?"
Berejiklian said that restrictions were determined by the advice from health experts.
"We know that our lockdown is extremely harsh and extremely strict, and we appreciate the pressure that so many families are in because of the lockdown," she said.
Berejiklian suggested that the current lockdown settings would be more effective if only residents "didn't do the wrong thing".
She pointed to the fact that NSW Police had reported about 400 rule breaches in a single day amid a lockdown enforcement operation.
Clennell, known for his abrasive questioning style, continually interrupted.
"Premier, there's eight million people in the state, of course 400 people are going to do the wrong thing – you've got to have the right health orders and lockdown in place," he said.
Berejiklian continued to insist that the restrictions were sufficient.
"We have had, and continue to have, the right settings in place. But unfortunately too many people continue to do the wrong thing," she said, before being interrupted again.
"Excuse me, it's not your press conference," she said.
"There are other journalists here as well."
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Photo / File
Sydney is in its eighth week of lockdown, but the tough restrictions have so far failed to bring down case numbers.
Since Greater Sydney was locked down on June 26, the daily case numbers have only worsened, and the highly transmissible Delta strain of coronavirus has also spread to the state's regions.
The first case in the outbreak was discovered on June 16, and since then more than 9200 people in NSW have been infected.
Berejiklian said on Sunday it was no longer possible to eliminate the Delta outbreak in Sydney and that the goal would be to keep case numbers down.
