Western Sydney residents feel they are being ‘scapegoated’ as police pledge Covid crackdown

Locals say they're being treated more harshly than those in the eastern suburbs where the outbreak started

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Western Sydney residents say they are being scapegoated" as New South Wales police announced a major compliance crackdown, including mounted officers, and health authorities struggled to contain the city's growing Covid-19 outbreak.

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, on Thursday apologised for singling out three council areas in Sydney's west for apparent breaches of health orders as locals claimed they were being unfairly branded as the reason the lockdown was extended".