A woman wearing a face mask walks along the harbour in Sydney on September 10, 2021 (SAEED KHAN / AFP)
The premier of New South Wales, Australia’s biggest and economically most important state, sent the rumour mill into overdrive recently when she announced she would no longer hold her daily press conference on the Delta strain COVID-19.
With daily case numbers exceeding 1,500 and a hospital system buckling under the strain Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Sept 10 that as from Sept 13 she would no longer hold the daily COVID briefing.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian promised to lift restrictions when 70 percent of the state is fully vaccinated. So far 45 percent are fully vaccinated
Berejiklian denied claims by the Labor opposition she was 'going into hiding', saying: “All of us have to start accepting that we need to live with COVID because COVID will be around for three or four years.”
The premier said health officials would still provide daily case numbers 'indefinitely' but from now on she would only front the media when she had “something important to say”.
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Berejiklian has said on numerous occasions that the current outbreak is not expected to peak until the end of the month.
She has also promised to lift restrictions when 70 percent of the state is fully vaccinated. So far, 45 percent are fully vaccinated. This is despite her health advisors warning she should aim for 80-85 percent fully vaccinated.
The NSW Premier is said to be struggling to maintain power with her government deeply divided over the way the State government has responded to the Delta outbreak and the impact lockdowns are having on the state’s finances and economy.
Infectious diseases expert, Professor Bill Bowtell, said the premier as “the architect of the policy” should continue to front the media because not doing so reduces people's trust in their government.
“Turning up builds trust,” he told the television current affairs program The Project on Sept 10. “Nothing trashes trust more than refusing to turn up and be accountable to the people.”
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The NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said the premier had a duty to hold the briefing and not walk away in the middle of a crisis.
“Now more than ever we need to be hearing daily from the government,” he said.
Around the country, the states and territories have wide discrepancies in vaccination rates and the State and Federal governments are talking about introducing vaccine passports.
Just how this will be policed remains the unanswered question.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced the state will pursue its own version of a vaccine passport. A “vaccinated economy” to be piloted in regional Victoria will allow only the double-dosed to access events, facilities and services.
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The Federal government’s plan to relax COVID-19 restrictions once 80 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated could hamper thousands more Australians with ongoing illness.
Professor Quentin Grafton from The Australian National University, Dr Zoë Hyde from the University of Western Australia and Professor Tom Kompas from the University of Melbourne examined the Australian Government's National Plan to reduce restrictions once enough adults are vaccinated.
Under the National Plan, once more than 80 percent of adults receive two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, equivalent to approximately 65 per cent of the total population, the nation will “manage COVID-19 consistent with public health management of other infectious diseases”.
Professor Grafton said Aug 24 the new modelling showed “we simply can’t afford to do that, both in terms of lives and long-term illness from COVID”.
“Our modelling shows if 70 percent of Australians over 16 years of age are fully vaccinated, with a 95 percent vaccination level for those aged 60 years and over, there could eventually be some 6.9 million symptomatic COVID-19 cases, 154,000 hospitalisations, and 29,000 fatalities.
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“And assuming 80 percent vaccination coverage for only those over 16, as per the National Plan, there could be approximately 25,000 fatalities and some 270,000 cases of long COVID,” he said.
karlwilson@chinadailyapac.com