As Sydney battles a growing Covid outbreak, lockdown-happy politicians and health officials have whipped themselves up into a frenzy slamming borders shut to millions of Sydneysiders.
Ten new coronavirus cases were announced on Tuesday, bringing the city's growing cluster to 21 active infections - most of which are linked to the outbreak in Bondi.
Only one case remains a mystery - a child from Saint Charles' Primary School in Waverley, Sydney's east - but dozens of new exposure sites were added to the lengthy list on Tuesday evening.
Gladys Berejiklian has even hinted that the concerning mystery case may prompt her to bring in tighter restrictions, adding to the existing mandatory mask order.
Among the new sites were two international flights between Sydney and Wellington after a traveller unknowingly infected with Covid decided to visit New Zealand for the weekend, prompting Jacinda Ardern to slam shut the borders with NSW.
In a move likely to cause school holiday chaos for many families, Victoria also shut its border with Sydney late on Tuesday night, declaring seven suburbs 'red zones'.
Despite the influx of cases derived from the Delta variant - with one person testing positive after brushing past an infected member of the community momentarily - Ms Berejiklian has so far stood firm in not locking Sydney down.
Gladys Berejiklian (pictured on Tuesday) has always supported the need to balance public health with people's wellbeing and jobs - meaning she has successfully avoided many lockdowns without seeing cases spiral. But she has hinted this time she may have no choice
One case concerning health officials is that of a young boy in Waverley who tested positive with no known links to the Bondi cluster (pictured, parents wait to collect children at St Charles' Primary School on Tuesday, where the child is a pupil)
On Tuesday, she told reporters that health authorities are confident they can find out where the school student contracted Covid-19 and there is only a small risk that the number of cases will explode out of control.
But when asked about a potential lockdown, she said the idea was not out of the question if mystery cases grow, with Sydney having experienced two lockdowns in the past.
'If that changes, if we suddenly have a number of unlinked cases and if we suddenly have them outside the geographic region they are concentrated in that we will obviously adjust the health advice and we will respond to that (idea of a lockdown),' she said.
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The premier has faced criticism by her interstate counterparts who believe lockdown is the only way to curtail the virus, but she has managed to keep NSW from spiraling into a pit of disease without forcing millions to stay at home.
Lockdowns shed millions from the economy, with Victoria's snap lockdown in February this year costing $1billion in just five days.
By comparison, Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino locked his state down for three weeks last month based on just two infections.
Last year, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews - who has been on sick leave for months after he slipped on stairs and fractured his spine - holds the record for the longest lockdown in Australia, and it still couldn't keep the virus out of the state.
Lockdown restrictions are looming for Sydney, with masks already mandatory on public transport and in indoor settings such as shops (pictured, a commuter in the city)
An empty Manly Wharf on December 21, as the number of cases grew in the Northern Beaches with the cluster reaching 150 - but NSW still wasn't locked down and recovered well
Victoria has endured four lockdowns, but the state has still struggled to contain Covid since the start of the pandemic with a grand total of 20,600 cases - five times more than NSW.
On Tuesday, the state slammed its border shut to millions living in Sydney starting at 1am on Wednesday - giving just a few hours notice.
The state has branded the City of Sydney and six other suburbs as 'red zones', meaning travel across the border is banned.
