Gladys Berejiklian has pleaded with Sydneysiders to get tested for Covid immediately even if it means missing work.
The NSW premier was asked about support for workers putting off testing because they couldn't afford to lose shifts after her health minister blamed 'refugee family groups' for falling test rates despite another 239 cases on Sunday.
Brad Hazzard said health authorities were struggling to feel confident that communities in the city's west and south-west would continue to get tested.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pleaded with Sydneysiders to prioritise getting tested for Covid-19 over work as the state records 239 new cases of Covid-19
Earlier on Sunday, the NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said there was hesitance from large 'refugee family groups' to come forward for testing due to fewer income earners
'What we're seeing in particular, is refugee family groups are often large families, and often there might only be one or two people in the family who are income earners,' he told the ABC.
'We're seeing a reluctance for them to come to health authorities and say, "we have a problem in our household".'
The health minister said these communities were pre-disposed to distrust government and law enforcement due to prior mistreatment.
'They’ve suffered greatly in their own nations, in their own countries,' he said.
'What we are trying to do is tell them, if you have got any symptoms at all or have been in contact with positive cases, please come forward to NSW Health.'
The health minister said when Sydney locked down the northern beaches during an outbreak last year and the eastern suburbs earlier in the year there was a 'high level of compliance'.
The lockdown in Sydney's southwest had been more 'challenging', he said.
Ms Berejiklian cited a 'variety of reasons' including age as to why testing numbers across Greater Sydney, especially the city's south-west, had slowed. Pictured: A resident shopping in Bankstown)
Ms Berejiklian cited a 'variety of reasons' including age as to why testing numbers across Sydney, especially the city's south-west, had slowed.
She warned residents that symptoms of the contagious Delta variant of the virus can feel mild in the morning but quickly develop into a severe case just hours later.
'It is very sad that people don't even get any medical help and I dying at home. We will see more of that unless people come forward and
