Gladys says impact of lockdown protest on case numbers won’t be known for a week

There are fears Sydney’s violent anti-lockdown protest could be a ‘superspreader’ event, but that won’t be known for days to come.

Whether Sydney’s lockdown protest has sparked a ‘superspreader’ event will not be known for at least another week, the NSW Premier has revealed.

Gladys Berejiklian lashed the thousands of Sydneysiders who flocked to the city to voice their detest at the citywide lockdown amid fears it could trigger a spike in case numbers.

“I’d love to be able to say ‘I think this is it’ (peak) but when you see an event like Saturday … even if one or two people had the virus at an event like that, we won’t know for a week or two how many people have been infected because of that,” she told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday.

“Even one or two superspreader events can really impact the way things turn out.”

She was probed about whether lockdown would be extended for several more weeks but said it was still too early to make the call.

Protesters have been lashed. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

“I wouldn't jump to any conclusions like that,” she said.

“We’re still working all that out, we’re getting the best health advice.

“I’m just blown away by the work our contact tracers have done, because in other parts of the world Delta (variant) is running riot.”

Earlier NSW Police Minister David Elliott slammed those who attended, condemning them as “a whole lot of halfwits” participating in an illegal “superspreader event”.

He also labelled anti-lockdown protesters “selfish boofheads” and vowed to prosecute them all in a furious press conference held hours after the dramatic scenes erupted on Sydney’s streets.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian would not say when lockdown would lift. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

Shocking photographs showed brazen marchers huddled together as they walked down major road Broadway towards the city centre, holding signs and halting traffic.

“What we saw today were 3500 very selfish boofheads,” Mr Elliott said on Saturday afternoon.

“People who thought the law did not apply to them.”

More than 60 people were arrested and dozens of charges have been laid in relation to the protest. Police have received more than 5500 reports from members of the public, dobbing in those who attended.

The state’s Covid crisis continues to escalate with a record 163 new cases announced on Saturday, the same day the protesters descended on the city.

Cases dipped to 141 on Sunday but the number of infectious people in the community remains a concern.

Originally published as Gladys says impact of lockdown protest on case numbers won’t be known for a week