A respiratory physician working at a busy western Sydney hospital has revealed the six reasons why he believes the virus continues to ravage the city's south west.
The top doctor argued the current outbreak had been triggered by a combination of language barriers, convoluted messaging from health officials and a general reluctance to get tested due to the consequences of a positive result.
This is because so many workers in the city's south-west and west rely on daily income to keep their families afloat and often work in critical industries that can't work from home.
He added an underlying distrust of police and the government, the amount of occupants in homes and a lack of messaging from trusted local leaders had intensified the rapid spread of Covid-19 in the city's ground-zero areas.
Top doctor said 'ineffective' response to coronavirus from NSW government had him gravely worried for city's migrant populations (pictured, people in Bankstown in south west Sydney)
A experienced physician has revealed six reasons why the virus is rapidly spreading in the city's Covid-stricken south west (pictured, queues at a pop-up vaccine hub in Lakemba)
The experienced doctor said the 'ineffective' response of the NSW government to coronavirus had him gravely concerned for the city's low-income migrant populations whose jobs were hanging by a thread.
He revealed that between one-third and a half of all consultations with a doctor in south-western Sydney had to be conducted with an interpreter present, whether this was over the phone, in-person, or using a family member.
The top doctor told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was becoming increasingly difficult for patients, often refugees, to keep up with the governments ever-developing public health directives.
He blamed the failure of health authorities to convey simple messaging, rules and statistics in English, let alone another language, as another reason for the outbreak.
The physician then went on to explain the majority of homes in the Covid-ravaged south-west were smaller and had more occupants.
Having multiple family members under one roof made it hard to enforce home quarantine, he said, on top of a limited number of hotels in the local area.
The respiratory expert said some patients who visited emergency departments remained resolute in their decision not to get tested in fear of returning a positive result, restricting them from family and friends.
Physician revealed one-third to half of all consultations with a doctor in western Sydney required an interpreter (pictured, queues at a pop-up vaccination clinic in Lakemba)
Doctor blamed governments failure to provide simple messaging in a variety of languages for the non-compliance of health orders in western Sydney (pictured, resident in Bankstown)
'The necessity to quarantine close contacts would prevent hard-up family members from working,' he explained.
'Some households are very sick, but their members do not seek help as they are trying to avoid restrictions.'
WHY WESTERN SYDNEY HAS BECOME COVID GROUND-ZERO
Respiratory physician at hospital in western Sydney says there are several factors for the outbreak in the city's west and south-west:
1) Between one-third and half doctor consultations being conducted with a translator
2) Health officials failing to convey messaging for rules and statistics in different languages including English
3) Houses in west and south-west typically smaller with more occupants
4) Relunctance to get a test in fears a positive result would see household and family members unable to work
5) Fear of people coming from third world countries confronting patrolling police forces particularly on horses
6) Failure of govt. to use local leaders to address communities in native languages and safe environments
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
The doctor said some western and south-western hospitals were also noticing a growing number of patients who presented so late in the course of their infection the ICU was their first and only option.
He said the same pattern was not being seen in Covid-infected residents attending emergency departments in the north, centre or east of Sydney.
The physician added that an underlying distrust of the government, an inability to work from home and economic instability were just some of the reasons why residents were not complying, allowing the virus to spread.
He said greater sensitivity was required to ensure residents felt safe seeing law enforcement in their local areas and recommended the NSW government use targeted public health directives in multiple languages.
Local leaders in the community, social media influencers and local sporting personalities could be used as messengers of important health advice, he said.
The top doctor urged health authorities to replace confusing 'mixed messaging' with clearly states goals to boost compliance in Sydney's ground-zero areas.
He also suggested that affected communities were offered a 'decent level of financial assistance' to ensure residents felt comfortable missing work commitments to get tested and isolate.
It comes after the NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said people from 'other backgrounds' are not obeying public health orders as the city recorded a pandemic high of 356 new cases on Tuesday.
Health authorities said 234 cases - almost two-thirds of the infections - were found in Sydney's west and south-west, while the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA emerging over recent days as the new epicentre of the outbreak.
Another 40 cases were found in central Sydney, 38 in the city's south-east, 24 in the Nepean Blue Mountains and 13 in the Hunter-New England region.
The respiratory physician said greater sensitivity was required to ensure residents felt safe seeing police in their communities (pictured, police patrolling the promenade at Bondi Beach)
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said people from 'other backgrounds' are not obeying public health orders as the city recorded a pandemic high of 356 new cases on Tuesday (pictured, cleaners at a Bondi Beach public school)
When asked about whether residents of south-west and western Sydney were complying with the strict stay-at-home orders, Mr Hazzard said there were pockets of Sydney that still were not.
'Probably something in order of 95%, a high percentage, of people are complying," Mr Hazzard said on Tuesday.
'There are other communities and people from other backgrounds who don't seem to think that it is necessary to comply with the law and who don't really give great consideration to what they do in terms of its impact on the rest of the community.
'I do say to them, you need to because otherwise the forces of the law are coming after you.'
Mr Hazzard said it was scofflaws in Sydney's southwest and west who are keeping case numbers high, resulting in a lockdown across Sydney.
'No matter what legal order or what legal requirements are in place you just can't legislate against stupidity, arrogance and entitlement,' Mr Hazzard said.
'If they complied with the rule and the law and they applied an element of common sense and a modicum of decency to the rest of the community, we would be fine.'
Health authorities said 234 of the cases recorded on Tuesday - almost two-thirds - were found in Sydney's west and south-west (pictured, a woman buying fruit in Bankstown)
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said vaccines are now the way out of lockdown, with a state goal of between 70 per cent and 80 per cent needed to see people out of the restrictions.
'Strategies that may have worked in the past aren't going to have effect with Delta. It is something we need to accept,' she said.
'Your approach has to be different. Fortunately, we have what we didn't have before - a vaccine.'
She said a 'targeted' vaccination approach in the city's Covid-stricken western and south-western suburbs was the only way to drive down transmission of the virus.
'A targeted approach in those local government areas with our vaccine strategies is key to reducing those case numbers,' she said.
