Sunday will mark five years since the end of a lockdown that hit western Sydney particularly hard. Residents recall bereavement, restrictions on saying goodbye and a lasting sense of unequal treatment.
For Boraa Dannoun, the moment his world changed came while he was arranging his father's funeral over Zoom. Only days earlier he had buried his mother. Both parents died of COVID in the final week of the 2021 lockdown, and restrictions left the family unable to gather or say goodbye on its own terms. Dannoun, who lived in Punchbowl at the time, remembers the trips between hospitals and his parents' final conversations.
During the Delta outbreak, authorities imposed a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in 12 designated areas of concern, limited outdoor exercise to one hour a day and restricted shopping and exercise trips to a five-kilometre radius. The areas included Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield and parts of Penrith. The stay-at-home orders were lifted on October 11, 2021.
Data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research presents a complicated picture of enforcement. Police recorded 36,597 breaches of public-health orders in July and August. Areas of concern accounted for 37% of detected breaches and 28% of the state's population, but also 78% of new COVID cases. Surveys showed generally high compliance across Greater Sydney, with compliance slightly higher in the designated areas. Researchers said the intensity of police activity affected how many breaches were detected.
Mike Searle also could not grieve with his family when his grandmother died. He delivered her eulogy by video, with only an authorised “bubble buddy” beside him. He believes the lack of shared mourning prolonged his grief. Tairyn Vergara, chief executive of The Parks Community Network in Fairfield, organised food and supplies for families in need and saw resentment over the restrictions become intertwined with the later cost-of-living squeeze.
Adam Leto of the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue says memories of the restrictions remain painful for some residents. A particularly stark symbol was the contrast between empty streets in the west and images of people gathering at Bondi Beach. Five years later, personal losses and memories of the lockdown continue to shape trust in government, although residents' experiences and views of the measures vary.