Live Breaking News: Experts warn of 'irreversible' consequences of reopening plan

A team of experts have warned against Australia reopening at 80 per cent fully vaccinated, saying that the consequences of doing so will likely be "irreversible". 

A team of experts have warned against Australia reopening at 80 per cent fully vaccinated, saying that the consequences of doing so will likely be "irreversible". 

 

The Australian National University's Professor Quentin Grafton, University of Western Australia's Dr Zoe Hyde and the University of Melbourne's Professor Tom Kompas examined the Morrison Government's national pandemic exit plan – based off modelling from the Doherty Institute.

Under that plan, once more than 80 per cent of Australians aged over 16 are fully vaccinated, we'll begin to "manage Covid-19 consistent with public health management of other infectious diseases" (ie. like we would the flu).

But in their statement, the team have opposed reopening until we're at 90 per cent, saying the current plan to relax restrictions will put too many lives at risk and could hamper thousands more Australians with ongoing illness.

"We simply can't afford to do that, both in terms of lives and long-term illness from Covid," Professor Grafton said the team's own modelling had shown.

"We found substantial morbidity and mortality is likely to occur if the Australian Government sticks to the national plan."

Dr Hyde said that "the consequences of prematurely and fully relaxing public health measures to suppress Covid-19, even after vaccinating 80 per cent of adults, would likely be irreversible, and unacceptable to many Australians".

It comes after a woman in her 30s who had Covid-19 tragically died at her home in Sydney's west, NSW Health announced this afternoon. 

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