Under fire: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian made some questionable remarks at her daily press conference on Thursday
Gladys Berejiklian has been accused of lying when she claimed that Sydney had the toughest Covid restrictions Australia has ever seen - given Melbourne's lockdown night curfews and compulsory outdoors masks and South Australia's onerous recent restrictions.
The NSW Premier announced on Thursday that 239 cases of Covid-19 were recorded overnight, a pandemic record for Greater Sydney.
That included 70 cases that were infectious in the community from 110,962 tests - another milestone, and has resulted in further restrictions in the city's west and south-west.
But the beleaguered Premier was swiftly called out on social media when she claimed at her daily press conference that NSW had the harshest rules of any Australian jurisdiction so far.
The remark came about after Sky News journalist Andrew Clennell demanded Ms Berejiklian admit her strategy had failed to stop the spread of Delta variant, dooming the city to at least four more weeks of lockdown, but possibly more.
Clennell asked: 'Will you admit... the strategy is failing and this death of 1,000 cuts, a little bit of restrictions every day is not working and you have to come down hard?'
Ms Berejiklian responded that Sydney's mobility data showed the population was abiding by the restrictions, and claimed: 'Well, we have harsher restrictions in place than any other state has ever had.'
MELBOURNE: During Australia's longest lockdown of 2020, residents were required to wear masks outside (above, at St Kilda) - and police were never far away
ADELAIDE: South Australia's lockdown earlier this month saw the nation's most onerous ever restrictions introduced including 2.5km exercise limit. Above, testing queues in the 'city of churches'
Veteran journalist Janine Perrett tweeted in response: 'Will NSW Premier stop saying these are the harshest measures anywhere Australia has ever seen as it is blatantly untrue.'
Punter Dianne Kaines erupted: 'I'm incandescent with rage. What an out and out LIE.'
During last year's second wave, all Melbourne residents were required by law to wear masks outdoors. They were restricted from travelling more than 5km from home and required to be at home at night due to a curfew.
Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews erected a 'ring of steel' around the city to prevent the spread of the virus into the regions and other states.
Likewise, South Australian residents briefly had even stricter restrictions imposed on them - including an onerous 2.5km exercise limit - during that state's brief lockdown earlier this month.
The NSW Government has long resisted similar measures, although Ms Berejiklian announced today that she will require masks to be worn outside the home in eight Local Government Areas of concern.
That applies for the Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Blacktown, Cumberland, Parramatta, Campbelltown and Georges River.
The Premier also suggested the state's NSW vaccination rate was, or could be, 'higher' than other states - a remark which likewise received a poor reception online.
'Whilst we're going through a very difficult time in NSW, let's think about a period of time when potentially, if we live more free than any other state, because our vaccination rates are higher,' Ms Berejiklian said.
But NSW is presently behind Victoria in the vaccination race, according to recent Federal Health Department data.
Almost 1.4million NSW residents have been vaccinated, compared to 1.57 Victorians.
One Twitter user remarked: 'Lets imagine our way out of this crisis? No wonder things are so bad with
