NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says worst of Covid-19 crisis still to come

The Deputy Premier says travel into Queensland looks unlikely even if lockdown restrictions are eased in Northern NSW.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro pictured at a Covid-19 update press conference, St Leonards. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Deputy Premier John Barilaro has made it clear the NSW Government does not expect Covid-19 numbers to ease in coming weeks.

Mr Barilaro said the worst is still to come in terms of the number of cases and hospitalisations.

“We expect that September will still be a tough month, with rising numbers,” he said.

“Until mid-to-late September, we are not going to see a lot of the vaccines kick in, because there is a two to three week lag.

“We are expecting numbers to continue to rise September and even October, but there will be a moment in time when vaccines will kick in and we’ll start seeing hospitalisations and even deaths minimise.

“With opening up the economy, we have said at 70 per cent with double dose, case numbers will continue, but it’s not about case numbers as a headline figure, it’s more to do with hospitalisations, ICU and deaths.

“I think the worst is still to come.”

Mr Barilaro was hopeful some areas of the state would be able to lift restrictions by September 10, but confirmed that will not happen before that date.

“Restrictions won’t be lifted anywhere before September 10,” he said.

“Leading to that date, we are going to look at the regions again, we’ll try to do that by local government area, and from a regional perspective.

“There is sewerage detection in some areas, as we announced today in Byron Bay, but it is very possible that the northern part of the state may have restrictions lifted by September 10.

“It’s clear that in big parts of the state — the north and the Riverina, for example — there is a lot of confidence that you can open those large areas up and have minimal risk.

“We’ll evaluate as we get there.”

But Mr Barilaro said he did not expect any future lifting of restrictions to change the situation at the NSW/Queensland border.

“I am not convinced that will change how Queensland treats NSW citizens,” he said.

“We worked over the weekend with Queensland officials to work through some of those outstanding issues, that continues today, hopefully I will get an update tomorrow on what arrangements may be able to ease.”