Gladys Berejiklian denies reports Sydney will be in Covid lock down until ...

Gladys Berejiklian has shot down reports she is considering locking down Sydney until mid-September and revealed she is 'weighing up' a more targeted shut down.

The Australian reported the NSW government was previously considering extending lockdown until September 3 but is now weighing up an extension until September 17.

In an interview on the Today show on Monday morning, the premier denied the report, saying: 'I don't know where they got that date from. It's news to me.'

'What I do know is that the experts are meeting with myself and colleagues and senior government officials this week, to actually talk about what life beyond July 31 looks like,' she added.

Ms Berejiklian also denied the report in an interview on 2GB radio, saying: 'I wouldn't jump to any conclusions like that.

'I don't know where that story came from, it certainly wasn't from me or anybody who's in the know.'

The premier hinted that some areas of Greater Sydney could be released from lockdown as planned on July 30. 

'I'm relieved, for example, even though things are really tough that rural and regional NSW has really kept the virus at bay,' she told Today. 

'Parts of greater Sydney and the Central Coast and other areas have kept the virus at bay. That's good news. They're the positives we need to focus on.'

Asked if an extended lockdown 'could potentially be more targeted to those areas where the numbers are high,' Ms Berejiklian said: 'Well, look, we're looking at all those options.' 

Most of the Sydney's cases are being recorded in the south-western areas of Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, and Liverpool. 

The premier also revealed the government will not know for days if an anti-lockdown protest in Sydney will cause a surge in cases. 

Some 3,500 people marched through the CBD on Saturday, protesting against restrictions and clashing with police. 

'When you see a massive event like the one we saw, that can really set us back,' she said.

'I hope it doesn't. We won't know for about a week the extent to which that may have set us back. 

'As you know the incubation period for the virus can be two weeks. On this one [the Delta strain] it's on average five to seven days but even with Delta we're seeing it come on earlier as well.'  

NSW cabinet will hold a crisis meeting on Monday morning, with sources saying the announcement of a 'significant extension' could be just hours away. 

The state recorded 141 Covid cases on Sunday and the death of a 38-year-old finance worker with no underlying conditions, taking the infection total to 2,081 since June 16.

South of the Murray River things are looking much brighter for Premier Daniel Andrews with face-to-face learning in schools, freedom of movement and the reopening of bars and restaurants 'very likely' to return on Wednesday.

Victoria recorded 11 new cases on Monday, all in isolation during their infectious period. 

South Australia is also due to end its week-long lockdown on Tuesday night.

Health department sources told The Herald Sun that despite the Victorian reopening, a number of restrictions will remain in place until vaccination rates have drastically improved.

While Victoria had 11 further infections on Sunday, bringing the total active number of cases in the state to 179, all of the new transmissions were isolating and had not been in the community.

All 11 were also linked to known cases. 

These vital statistics have put the Garden State firmly on track to get out of lockdown on Wednesday as scheduled.

Policymakers and health officials are currently in favour of schoolchildren returning to the classroom this week with excursions, planned camps and events also set to be given the green light.

High level talks are already underway to open the doors of Victoria's beloved hospitality venues with cafes, restaurants and bars looking likely to trade this week under the 4 person per sq/m rule with a cap of 50 patrons indoors.

Retail stores are also set to have the same restrictions, while outdoor community sports events will be capped at 100 people.

FIND THE LATEST EXPOSURE SITES NEAR YOU

Under the new proposal face masks are expected to remain mandatory both indoors and outdoors as the highly contagious Indian Delta variant continues to wreak havoc north of the border.

One of the issues that could stand in Victoria's way however is a potential rise in cases due to the anti-lockdown march which occurred in Melbourne's CBD on Saturday.

More than 1,000 people flooded the streets flouting stay-at-home orders to protest Covid restrictions, with many more taking to the streets in Covid-ravaged Sydney.

The demonstrators were seen abandoning face masks and disregarding social distancing, raising concerns the anti-lockdown rally could act as a super spreader for Covid-19.

A final decision on whether Victorians will be released from lockdown is expected to be made on Monday.

Meanwhile, Sydney's lockdown nightmare is only just beginning with the NSW crisis cabinet set to meet on Monday morning to discuss what can be done about the surging number of Covid cases and the simultaneous anti-lockdown demonstrations that took place in Sydney over the weekend. 

Internal government data suggests there is little chance stay-at-home restrictions can be lifted safely before the middle of September, prompting the Berejiklian government to request financial modelling that would spell out the potential damage. 

Despite much of the focus being on the ballooning case numbers in the city's south-west, the region made up less than half of the new cases reported on Sunday with people still becoming infected all over the city.

The Australian reported that NSW

read more from dailymail.....