Chaos in NSW has leaders nervous about spread of third wave

Leaders across Australia are nervous about NSW’s ability to control its Delta outbreak with more than 12 million Australians now living under lockdown restrictions.

Australia’s top doctor has declared the nation is “clearly” in its third wave of Covid-19, as state leaders including Annastacia Palaszczuk used national cabinet to confront NSW on its plan to contain the virus within its own borders.

But Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the burgeoning case load was largely restricted to NSW, while he deemed Queensland’s recent cluster “clearly under control”.

More than 12 million Australians — in Melbourne, swathes of NSW, and Canberra — are now living under lockdown restrictions.

Queensland recorded eight new cases of coronavirus on Friday, with seven locally acquired and all linked to the Indooroopilly Delta-strain cluster while another was detected in hotel quarantine.

This was in stark contrast to NSW, where 390 new infections and two more deaths were recorded.

Professor Paul Kelly during a press conference after the National Cabinet meeting. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, to the consternation of other state leaders, had signalled a deviation from an agreed national strategy on Covid-19, floating plans to relax some restrictions once 50 per cent of the state is vaccinated.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earlier in the day said she was “Very concerned … about how clusters (in NSW) are continuing to expand”.

“The last thing we want to see is this virus spread north,” she said.

“It is absolutely imperative that NSW contain this virus.”

In the end the discussion at national cabinet was collegiate, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“(Premier Berejiklian) was able to go through the steps that were being taken in New South Wales to address the outbreak,” he said.

“She certainly doesn’t want to see an escalation of cases or the virus not being suppressed … and I am quite certain, and I would certainly hope, they would not be seeking to ease restrictions that could give rise to that.”

Premier Gladys Berejiklian pictured at a COVID-19 update press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Mr Morrison also flagged an imminent update to the freight code, the set of rules that governs how truckies are able to move between state borders.

“We’re getting close to a final agreement which will mean it should be a lot more simple for our transport sector moving across borders and testing arrangements and the like,” he said.

One in four Australians aged 16 and older have now been fully vaccinated.

Mr Morrison said no decisions have been made yet on exemptions for vaccinated people which will begin once the nation reaches a threshold of 70 per cent of the eligible population fully jabbed.

Victoria recorded 15 new local COVID-19 cases yesterday, eight of whom were in quarantine during their infectious period.

All of Queensland’s local cases were picked up in home quarantine — one on day 12 of isolation.

One of the local cases was tied to a Japanese class at St Aidan’s. The others were linked to Ironside State School and Brisbane Grammar school.

The ACT’s Covid-19 cluster grew to six cases, with health authorities confirm the initial case — a man in his 20s — had the highly infectious Delta variant.

The nation’s capital is currently in a seven day lockdown, with anyone arriving from the ACT into Queensland having to go into hotel quarantine as of 1am Saturday.