Three leading medical specialists have called for a two-week pause on big indoor events and a return to mask-wearing to stem a major spike in COVID-19 cases, saying the national reopening plan needs adjusting for the more infectious omicron variant.

The head of the Doherty Institute, Sharon Lewin, and UNSW epidemiologists John Kaldor and Greg Dore called for a rethink of the reopening plans. The Doherty Institute led a consortium of modellers that underpinned the original national reopening plan.