NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet rules out more lockdowns, unveils $43m festival support package

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has declared the state must push through the Omicron wave, as he unveiled fresh support for one sector.

A $43 million support package for cancelled festivals has been unveiled in NSW as Premier Dominic Perrottet ruled out future lockdowns.

The Omicron wave has seen the summer festival season descended into another disappointment, with the axe falling on Grapevine Gathering in the Hunter Valley, King Street Carnival and Tamworth Country Music Festival.

The state government’s Event Saver Fund, first announced last year, was launched on Monday for organisers of major events and festivals that have been cancelled or significantly disrupted by Covid Public Health Orders.

“This fund will ensure that we will underwrite sunk costs for the festivals that could be impacted due to changes to public health orders,” Treasurer Matt Kean told reporters.

“In the coming days, we will talk of other measures to support other sections of the economy. What we want to do is preserve the fabric of the economy.”

Mr Kean said there was “light at the end of the tunnel” of the current health and economic crisis.

“We’ve seen from international experience and based on the modelling that NSW Health have provided us that over the next four to six weeks, there will be a significant decrease in cases across the community,” he said.

NSW recorded 29,504 new Covid-19 cases and 17 deaths on Monday, as experts say the state could soon reach its infection peak.

There are currently 2776 people in hospital with the virus, up from 2650 on Sunday, of whom 203 are in intensive care, up from 191.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean and Premier Dominic Perrottet unveiled the festival support package on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Adam Yip

Mr Perrottet said NSW was under pressure but “the best way through this pandemic is to push through” the Omicron-fuelled surge.

“I understand that it is a different approach to the last two years, but what we can’t have here in NSW and across the country are never-ending lockdowns,” he said.

“Because that will result in a pandemic that becomes a never-ending story.”

Monday’s numbers are again a drop from Sunday’s 34,660 new cases, which fell from 48,768 infections on Saturday and more than 63,000 on Friday.

Of the new cases on Monday, 11,858 were detected on rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 17,646 were found through PCR testing.

Health officials said 10,187 of the positive RAT results were from the previous seven days.

As of Monday, 95.2 per cent people in NSW aged over 16 have had one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, 93.8 per cent have had two and 26.1 per cent have received a booster.

Among children aged 12 to 15, 82.1 per cent have received their first dose of a vaccine, while 78.3 per cent have had two doses.

NSW has recorded 17 new Covid deaths on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Of the children aged five to 11, 13.1 per cent have had one dose of the vaccine in the past week.

NSW Health is continuing to reinforce that daily case numbers may not be an accurate depiction of the true number of cases.

That’s because some people have logged positive RAT results on multiple days, as well as a positive PCR in the same reporting period.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Sunday said he was concerned about lower vaccination rates in northern NSW including Byron Bay and Lismore.

He took aim at people who were avoiding being vaccinated or spreading misinformation about Covid immunisation.

“They will be responsible for people in hospital or much worse. And there’s more, one day this week we had six people in (Lismore Hospital) intensive care unit and all six were unvaccinated,” Mr Hazzard told reporters.

“You can’t get a clearer message than that. In a hospital, you have everybody who’s in the ICU unvaccinated, there is a message for the rest of the state. Go and get vaccinated.”

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Sunday said he was concerned over lower vaccination rates in northern NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Modelling released last week for NSW showed a worst-case scenario would put 6000 people in hospital with Covid and 600 receiving intensive care at the peak.

However in the best-case scenario, the modelling predicted there would be 3158 Covid patients in hospital at the peak, while 270 of those would be in ICU.

Mr Perrottet said there were a “difficult few weeks” ahead, but the modelling was “very reassuring and encouraging”.

NSW is yet to reach the “peak”, but Dr Kerry Chant says it is close.

The state’s top doctor said half of NSW’s population could eventually become infected with the virus, with some being asymptomatic and never knowing they had it.

“Not all of those will have symptomatic infections or even know that they’ve been infected,” she said.