NSW Covid News live: Premier Gladys Berejiklian outlines road map to freedom as vaccination rates surge
NSW locals are desperate to get out of lockdown but those hoping for an easing of restrictions in October have been warned their freedom hinges on one thing.
Welcome to our coverage of NSW’s Covid-19 situation.
The state is well on its way to its 70 per cent double dose vaccination goal — after 75 per cent of people received their first jab — prompting NSW’s Crisis Cabinet to tentatively predict October 18 as the day restaurants, bars and retail would open for fully vaccinated people.
The state recorded 1405 new cases of coronavirus today with authorities issuing a warning for Sydney’s inner city suburbs as cases continue to spike.
Victoria recorded 324 cases and Queensland had one new case.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian issued a warning to people hoping to be free of restrictions in October, reminding them any rewards would be only given to fully vaccinated citizens.
Follow below for today’s top updates. Just make sure you keep refreshing the page for the latest news.
Full details of NSW’s road map to freedom revealed
NSW’s road map to freedom has been revealed with 70 per cent double dose the target to ease restrictions on a number of industries.
The restrictions will be eased on the Monday after NSW hits 70 per cent double dose. Only fully vaccinated people and those with medical exemptions will have access to the freedoms allowed under the Reopening NSW road map.
Gatherings in the home and public spaces:
• Up to five visitors will be allowed in a home where all adults are vaccinated (not including children 12 and under)
• Up to 20 people can gather in outdoor settings
Venues including hospitality, retail stores and gyms:
• Hospitality venues can reopen subject to one person per 4 sqm inside and one person per 2 sqm outside, with standing while drinking permitted outside
• Retail stores can reopen under the one person per 4 sqm rule (unvaccinated people will continue to only be able to access critical retail)
• Personal services such as hairdressers and nail salons can open with one person per 4 sqm, capped at five clients per premises
• Gyms and indoor recreation facilities can open under the one person per 4 sqm rule and can offer classes for up to 20 people
• Sporting facilities including swimming pools can reopen
Stadiums, theatres and major outdoor recreation facilities:
• Major recreation outdoor facilities including stadiums, racecourses, theme parks and zoos can reopen with one person per 4 sqm, capped at 5,000 people
• Up to 500 people can attend ticketed and seated outdoor events
• Indoor entertainment and information facilities including cinemas, theatres, music halls, museums and galleries can reopen with one person per 4 sqm or 75 per cent fixed seated capacity
Weddings, funerals and places of worship:
• Up to 50 guests can attend weddings, with dancing permitted and eating and drinking only while seated
• Up to 50 guests can attend funerals, with eating and drinking while seated
• Churches and places of worship to open subject to one person per 4 sqm rule, with no singing
Travel:
• Domestic travel, including trips to regional NSW, will be permitted
• Caravan parks and camping grounds can open
• Carpooling will be permitted
• Non-vaccinated young people aged under 16 will be able to access all outdoor settings but will only be able to visit indoor venues with members of their household
• Employers must continue to allow employees to work from home if the employee is able to do so
• There will be revised guidance on isolation for close and casual contacts who are fully vaccinated, with details to be provided closer to the reopening date
Masks:
• Masks will remain mandatory for all indoor public venues, including public transport, front-of-house hospitality, retail and business premises, on planes and at airports
• Only hospitality staff will be required to wear a mask when outdoors
• Children aged under 12 will not need to wear a mask indoors.
Plan leaves NSW at ‘considerable risk’ of having to lock down again
Reactions to Gladys Berejiklian’s reopening plan are pouring in, with the Australian Medical Association (AMA) calling on the NSW government to provide more detail on the roadmap, including modelling of future health system impact and case numbers.
AMA President Omar Khorshid said in a statement that “the Burnet modelling released by NSW recently was predicated on current restrictions remaining in place and did not include an assessment of what the changes announced today would mean for the health system”.
“The Burnet analysis shows that NSW is likely to ease restrictions at a time when there will still be more than 500 infections each day and with the health system under considerable stress,” Dr Khorshid said.
“We already know it is beyond the capacity of the NSW health system to effectively trace contacts of many hundreds of cases a day.
“NSW needs to release the modelling it has used to inform today’s changes to either reassure the community that infection numbers will continue to come down to manageable levels or give the community an honest assessment of their impact on the health system.”
According to the modelling, ICU capacity over the next three months would be under enormous strain in NSW, and Dr Khorshid said the public needs to know that the changes won’t make projected peaks worse or last longer.
“NSW is right to ease restrictions slowly and to limit changes to people who are vaccinated. However, the key problem facing NSW is that it is looking to ease restrictions when case numbers are likely to be too high,” he said.
“NSW should look to achieving a higher vaccination rate in order to reduce pressure on the NSW health system and ensure that NSW could open up in a sustainable way.
“Unfortunately, today’s plan appears to leave NSW at considerable risk of having to return to lockdowns.”
CHO warned Premier to be ‘cautious’ when easing restrictions
Chief health officer Kerry Chant urged the Premier to be “cautious” in easing Covid-19 restrictions in NSW until 85 per cent of the eligible population is vaccinated, health advice obtained by Sky News Australia has revealed.
“To reduce the risk of a UK/Israel type scenario after reopening, it will require a cautious approach to reopening and ongoing public health measures and restrictions while achieving a high level of vaccination ie 85 per cent or more fully vaccinated population (16 and over) as quickly as possible,” the advice from Dr Chant said.
“We should also take advantage of the opportunity to vaccinate as many children aged 12-15 as possible to prevent transmission of this age group and into their households and to contribute to even higher total population coverage.
“NSW does not have the same level of protection afforded in other countries at the same level of vaccination coverage so needs to adopt a more cautious approach to avoid high levels of ongoing transmission, especially in a few months once the initial vaccination protection may start to wane.
“NSW commenced vaccinating high priority cohorts in around March, so some people will be likely experiencing reduced protection compared to those vaccinated more recently.
“There should also continue to be additional targeted efforts to increase vaccination coverage to reduce Covid transmission and prevent serious illness in vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.”
Dr Chant, who has repeatedly said she believes NSW can achieve higher than 80 per cent full vaccination, added that “an even uptake” in vaccine coverage across the whole state “will be important especially in preventing local outbreaks and will reduce the risk of needing to impose a higher level of restrictions due to local transmission”.
Mayor questions ‘alarming’ part of Gladys’ plan
Cumberland City Council Mayor Steve Christou has questioned the “vagueness” of Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s reopening announcement today, saying that while the plan “is welcome”, it “leaves the door open for restrictions in Cumberland”.
Cumberland is considered one of the LGAs of “concern” in Greater Sydney – and Ms Berejiklian is yet to announce the same freedoms will apply to fully-vaccinated residents in these areas.
“The Premier said the road map is subject to further ‘finetuning’ if cases within a designated area remain too high. This is a clear indication that Cumberland will remain in lockdown darkness with heavy restrictions,” Mr Christou said in a statement.
“Watching the press conference and reading the statement, it wasn’t clear which areas would remain in lockdown, which is alarming and allows the unfair targeting of the Cumberland LGA.
“Despite repeated requests, Cumberland hasn’t had a vaccination hub, even though we’ve been one of the worst hit areas. Considering only fully-vaxxed people are afforded these freedoms and considering the clusters in Cumberland, our LGA should have been first to receive mass vaccinations.”
Mr Christou thanked NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet “for speaking up for western Sydney, saying the whole city should reopen at the same time”.
“I welcome a fresh perspective in what is obviously an inefficient situation. It’s in stark contrast to the Premier who still refuses to sit down to a collective online meeting with mayors from the LGAs of concern to discuss how both levels of government could support their communities,” he added.
“Western Sydney has already copped the brunt of this lockdown and has suffered immeasurably – economically and socially.”
‘No one has had more sleepless nights’ than Greg Hunt
The Prime Minister also jumped to the defence of Greg Hunt, declaring that “when you come up against the challenges in a global crisis, you adapt, you overcome and you seek to make up the ground and that’s exactly what the government has done”.
“And no one has put more effort into that task than the Minister for Health. No one has had more sleepless nights and lengthy hours than the Minister for Health in securing the best possible health outcome for every single Australian,” Scott Morrison said.
“Of course there’ll be critics in the middle of a crisis and be lots of hindsight heroes and others who say, ‘This could have been done or that could have been done’. If they want to focus on the past, that’s fine. We’re focusing on the future. The plan says let’s get the jabs in the arms, let’s get Australia open again and deal with Australians and achieving that.
“That’s what the NSW government has done today. Good on you, Gladys. I look forward to similar steps being taken by other Premiers around the country, which no doubt they will, because I know they want to keep that deal with Australians.”
Was it possible for Australia to be earlier in vaccine queue?
Scott Morrison has been dogged with questions about Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt’s delay in speaking to Pfizer and securing Australia doses of the vaccine earlier.
The Prime Minister said that he “rejects” the idea that Australia was left at the back of the vaccine queue as a result, saying it was “very clear” from discussions with Pfizer that “the focus was not on Australia” but on countries where people were dying “in their thousands”.
“We went down the path of establishing a sovereign vaccine manufacturing capability which has seen more than 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine into the arms of Australians and is significantly underwritten the vaccination program,” he said.
“Our vaccination rates would be half what they were today were it not for our decision to put in place the sovereign manufacturing capability here in Australia for AstraZeneca. What was very clear when the world was in crisis and the Northern Hemisphere was seeing millions of people die, hundreds of thousands on a weekly basis, that that’s where the focus of those companies was.
“We needed to deal with our own challenges and have our own Australian solutions to them to make our own Australian way and that’s exactly what we did.”
Prime Minister praises NSW for its reopening plan
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has praised NSW for pushing ahead with reopening in October.
“I want to welcome the New South Wales plan to reopen. This plan keeps the deal, keeps the faith, with the people of Australia and the people of New South Wales set out in the national plan,” he said.
“This plan supports the initiatives that are there being driven by the safe process of opening underwritten by the Doherty modelling and supported by the national plan.
“It is a careful and a safe plan and consistent with everything set out in the national plan, and I commend the New South Wales government for following through.”
Mr Morrison said by mid-October there would be enough supplies to offer a first and second dose to all of the eligible Australian population.
One in two in the community will still be unprotected even at 70 per cent target
Professor Mary Louise McLaws, an infectious diseases expert and epidemiologist from the UNSW, has reminded NSW just how many people will be at risk when the state reopens next month.
“Just looking at how fast people are getting vaccinated, and it seems to be at a steady and growing pace which is great news, but I estimate that at the moment, 43 per cent of all adults, 16 years and over, in New South Wales have been double vaccinated, so at the rate and that the vaccine uptake has been occurring, we‘re likely to get to 50 per cent this time next week and, therefore, we’re not likely to get to 70 per cent until potentially the first or second week of October,” she said told ABC News.
“That sounds great, it sounds really fast but let me remind you that there is one problem with this. That means one in two people in the total community will be at risk and will be unprotected.
“The ones that I’m really concerned about are the drivers of Covid and that is the 16-39-year-olds. They won’t get to 70 per cent for quite some time because by the time the 16 years and over get to 70 per cent, I estimate that the under 40s will only get to 50 per cent.”
Prof McLaws called on the state government to focus on ramping up vaccination rates among the younger cohort over the next two weeks, to give them time to be double vaxxed come October.
“Our government is going to have to work very hard at getting more vaccine into New South Wales so we can get that rate up fast, particularly in that young group,” she said.
Good news for NSW as state’s reproduction rate drops
Things are looking up for NSW today with the state announcing its freedom road map and health authorities revealing the state reproduction rate has dropped below one.
The R-effective is the number of people infected from a person already infected by coronavirus.
Dr Kerry Chant said the R-eff would have to drop below one, meaning less than one person would need to be infected by each infected person, for her to consider giving the green light for restrictions to ease next month.
Another 1405 cases for NSW today. The 5-day moving average has dropped again to 1305, and the Reff has dropped below 1 for the first time since the outbreak started. It is starting to look very peakish. pic.twitter.com/uIzEE8ru5R
— Professor Adrian Esterman FACE (@profesterman) September 9, 2021
Freedom still hinges on two things
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant is pinning her hope on the community as NSW works to drop Covid rates and increase vaccination coverage.
Dr Chant avoided questions from journalists questioning if the state would delay easing restrictions if the R effective transmission rate was still not below one when 70 per cent of NSW is double dose vaccinated.
“This is all in everyone's hands. Please don't lose sight of the fact that for the next four weeks we need to redouble our efforts and get vaccinated,” she said.
“There's still too many people in vulnerable groups that are not, in terms of medical comorbidities, people over 50 and people over 70, that are still not vaccinated.
“We still haven't got high enough two-dose vaccine coverage for some of those groups. And we've now got access to vaccine for the younger ones.
“I have to say, the uptake in the age groups that have just recently had access to the vaccine is so reassuring to me. Because I think that young people are acting so responsibly in terms of protecting themselves but protecting their loved ones.”
Will the world ever go back to what things were like pre-Covid?
With highly vaxxed nations such as Singapore and Israel reporting a surge in coronavirus cases, many are wondering if the world will ever get back to normal.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant had some blunt words for people hoping to go back to 2019.
“I think everyone around the world watches the situation overseas, and I think we have been very honest that we have to learn to live with Covid,” she said.
“We are going to be vaccinated, vaccinated again, we're going to be potentially challenged by different variants. This will be a journey.
“We know that some flu seasons are severe, some flu seasons are mild. But the real hope is that we have safe and effective vaccines.
“After years of cycling through this, we will get to a level of comfort, a bit like we have with flu but I can't stress enough that we will have to respond, and this is a cautious plan.
“The higher the level of vaccination, and if we can deliver that to the most vulnerable of our communities in a very uniform way, we will be in a very strong position to go back to a life similar to what we had before.
“But will I always want people to be wearing masks if they're sick? Will I want them to be staying at home and not going to work? There are many things from our experience with Covid that I think we've learnt about and will want to embrace, even going forward.”
‘Glimmers of flattening’ in LGAs of concern
LGAs of concern fearing they won’t get the same freedoms everyone else get in October can clutch onto some hope after Dr Kerry Chant said cases appeared to be flattening in some regions.
Dr Chant said communities in the LGAs of concern had “elevated their vaccination coverage rates amazingly”.
“What I'm trying to say to those communities is we are, in some of those communities, starting to see some glimmers of flattening,” she said.
“Now, as an epidemiologist, I do not want to call it too early. But I just want to give some hope that if you continue to stick the course, we may well see declining case numbers in some of those areas, as we see vaccination rates climb.”
Dr Chant said any ongoing restrictions would be targeted – either geographically or potentially industry-based, depending on where cases were spreading.
“There may be some people in certain industries or certain professions where we know the vaccine coverage isn't very high, or as high as we would like, and therefore we might work with them. So, the public health measures may be geographical-based but they may be targeted. We may be supporting vulnerable communities. Increasing access to vaccinations. So, a suite of strategies. And we will closely monitor,” she said.
School reopening date of October 25 to stay the same
While NSW’s reopening date hinges on a 70 per cent vaccination target, the schools date has been set and will not change.
“Unlike other venues and adult activity, it is really important for school communities, for students and teachers to have a fixed date they open to provide certainty,” the premier said.
“That is why we nominated October 25. We assumed and I think that assumption will bear fruit that by that stage, 70 per cent of adults would be vaccinated and there would be some start of the vaccination for 12-15-year-olds.”
October freedoms will only be given to fully vaccinated people
Premier Gladys Berejiklian is outlining the state’s road map to freedom as NSW inches closer to high vaccination coverage.
Ms Berejiklian said while the state hoped to ease restrictions in October, she warned that any potential rewards would only be afforded to fully vaccinated people.
“We have also had input from the health experts and stakeholders to make sure that when we start reopening at 70 per cent double dose, that it is done in a safe way and it is only for people who are vaccinated,” she said.
“You have been warned, if you're not vaccinated, come forward and get the vaccine, otherwise you won't be able to participate in the many freedoms that people have at 70 per cent vaccination.”
The premier also said restrictions could also be reintroduced in suburbs, regions or towns if there was a surge in cases or an outbreak.
“I also want to stress there isn’t a specific date,” Ms Berejiklian said, after the date of October 18 was floated.
Ms Berejiklian said an easing of restrictions would be announced for the Monday following the date NSW gets to 70 per cent double dose coverage.
Parts of regional NSW to be freed from lockdown
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has announced an easing of restrictions for parts of regional NSW due to low coronavirus rates.
Stay-at-home orders will remain in place in the following LGAs – Bathurst, Bega, Blayney, Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Broken Hill, Cabonne, Central Coast, Central Darling, Cessnock, Dubbo, Dungog, Eurobodalla, Forbes, Gilgandra, Goulburn Mulwarre, Kiama, Lake Macquarie, Lithgow, Maitland, Mid-Coast, Mid-Western, Muswellbrook, Narrabri, Narromine, Newcastle, Orange, Parkes, Port Stephens, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Singleton, Snowy Monaro, Upper Hunter, Walgett and Wingecarribee.
For the rest of regional NSW – that are deemed low risk and haven’t seen a single Covid case for the past 14 days – they will emerge from lockdown at 12.01am, September 11.
The following freedoms will be available to all people in regional LGAs where stay-at-home orders have lifted:
Up to five visitors allowed in the home, not including children 12 and under, and up to 20 people can gather outside.
Hospitality venues can reopen with a 4 sqm rule inside and 2 sqm outside.
Retail stores, beauticians and hair salons can reopen with 4 sqm restrictions.
Gyms and indoor recreation facilities can open under the one person per 4 sqm rule and can offer classes for up to 20 people. Sporting facilities including swimming pools can reopen.
Schools will also reopen with level three Covid measures in place.
Major recreation outdoor facilities including stadiums, racecourses, theme parks and zoos can reopen with one person per 4 sqm, capped at 5000 people and up to 500 people can attend ticketed and seated outdoor events.
Indoor entertainment and information facilities including cinemas, theatres, music halls, museums and galleries can reopen with one person per 4 sqm or 75 per cent fixed seated capacity.
Up to 50 guests can attend weddings and funerals.
Travel can resume, including reopening caravan parks and masks will be required indoors.
NSW records 1405 new cases, five deaths
NSW has recorded another massive surge in cases, reporting 1405 cases and five people tragically lost their lives.
NSW recorded 1,405 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 9, 2021
Two new cases were acquired overseas in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, and 23 previously reported cases have been excluded following further investigation. pic.twitter.com/kztOigGRBW
The state also saw a big day of vaccinations, with 107,000 doses administered.
More than 42.5 per cent of NSW residents are now fully vaccinated.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the vaccination rate had declined slightly and urged people to turn out.
NSW is just over five weeks away from its reopening date after the state government’s Crisis Cabinet last night voted on October 18 to give industry the green light.
However that date hinges heavily on a drop in infection rates and high vaccination rates with Premier Gladys Berejiklian hoping for at least 70 per cent double dose.
Details of NSW’s road map to freedom
NSW locals will no doubt be eagerly tuning in to today’s 11am press conference to hear details of the reopening plan, approved last night by Crisis Cabinet.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro revealed October 18 had been set as the date to reopen hospitality and retail, with the state inching closer to its target of 70 per cent double dose vaccination after more than 75 per cent of people turned out for their first dose.
A number of details in the plan have already leaked.
The first stage of the road map would see restaurants, cafes and pubs reopened – likely with a four square metre reduced capacity rule.
Gyms, hairdressers, beauticians and other retail would also be given the green light.
It’s also been reported that the government plans to do a two-week trial at hospitality venues in early October in at least two local government areas that have high vaccination rates and low cases.
“We can start doing a two-week pilot, we haven’t worked out where they will be yet, for the first two weeks of October,” NSW Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello told 2GB yesterday.
“Around that time, we should be hitting the 70 per cent (vaccination) mark.”
The passport would be available inside the Service NSW app, and Mr Dominello said it was essential authorities made it simple to access.
“It’s basically what the industry is calling for,” he said.
The Northern Beaches, the Blue Mountains and the Hills Shire are being considered for the trial.
Regional NSW is also set for a reprieve, with restrictions hopefully eased as early as next weekend.
However NSW’s North and Mid North Coasts, and the Riverina region will get reprieve this week, with restrictions likely eased from tomorrow.
Regional travel could be back on the table as early as next month too.
The premier also said the state had started looking at home quarantine arrangements for fully vaccinated travellers.
NSW-Victorian travel ‘bubble’ on the cards
The premier called in to Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa this morning to address the state’s reopening and said she hoped NSW and Victoria could team up to encourage the rest of Australia to live with Covid.
Kicking off the chat, radio host Wippa brought up something that’s likely on everyone’s minds – that the planned reopening date of October 18 is on a Monday.
“Do you reckon you could tweak it maybe the Friday beforehand so we can really go bang for that weekend?” Wippa asked.
“Well the whole point is, and I know people aren’t going to like this, but I actually don’t like the concept of Freedom Day, it’s an incremental thing,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“You can’t say one day you’ll be like this and then the next day you’re like that.
“If we get case numbers under control there could be other things that are eased before then but for things like socialising with other people outdoors, whether it’s a cafe or a restaurant or a pub, that’s going to require strict Covid rules around it.
“In all seriousness it’s almost like I prefer easing into it rather than having a day where everybody goes crazy because we don’t want that to see superspreading events – that in itself can set you back.”
As Victoria and NSW both grapple with large Delta outbreaks, both states have recently changed the conversation away from elimination, instead encouraging people to learn to live with Covid.
Ms Berejiklian said a travel bubble between the two could be a “possibility” and Victoria and NSW teaming up could have a big impact on the rest of Australia.
“Well I think (a travel bubble) is a possibility, given Victoria and New South Wales are in similar circumstances,” she said.
“I think both states are in lockdown, both of us represent 60 per cent of Australians, you’ve got the two largest states with the largest urban populations so I wouldn’t call it a bubble, but I’d like to think that Victoria and New South Wales would work together on encouraging other states to kind of ease their way into living with Covid.”
NSW’s ‘Freedom Day’ will be very different to the UK
Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon from Australian National University has cautioned against the idea that Australia’s ‘Freedom Day’ will be like life pre-pandemic.
NSW plans to reopen many industries on October 18, with the state hopefully hitting a 70 per cent double dose target by then.
“I don't think we're doing what Britain did which is basically drop all restrictions. What we do know is being outside, being in smaller groups, is much safer than being indoors in bars for instance,” Prof Collignon told Today.
“A gradual reduction in restrictions that will mainly affect initially people who are vaccinated. That makes sense.
“We can't stay locked up forever but when we do decrease restrictions, we would make sure it is the least risky possible. That's being outside. Outside dining for instance. Letting people who are vaccinated move around, keeping crowds down inside. That's the sort of plan. It's not all off. It is a gradual reduction as vaccination goes up.”
Prof Collignon said activities such as “going outside for longer periods of time, sitting down, outdoor dining” were all “low risk”.
“It is not that you may not get any transmission but you'll get not much transmission and, for getting numbers up and keeping them at high levels, what matters is being indoors with other people that are infected, crowded, super spreading events,” he said.
“Those will be avoided or minimised. So the things we let people do will have a lot more psychological benefits, a lot more psychological benefits, a lot more social interaction, economic benefits but still not making the risk really high.”
Suburbs put on alert as cases spike
High vaccination rates in the west 0f Sydney has seen cases somewhat stabilise, with health authorities now turning their attention to the inner city.
NSW deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale yesterday issued a warning to residents in Waterloo, Redfern and Elizabeth Bay that there was a high amount of coronavirus circulating in their suburbs.
Data from NSW Health shows the City of Sydney local government area has recorded 300 cases in the past week. Cases have almost doubled in the past week since the Delta outbreak began, with City of Sydney now dealing with 540 active cases.
Waterloo and Zetland have had 62 cases for the week up to September 7, Redfern has had 36 and Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point have had 31.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday urged people outside of the LGAs of concern to get vaccinated.
“While parts of western Sydney and southwestern Sydney are demonstrating outstanding results, there are other parts of Greater Sydney where we’d like vaccination rates to go up,” she said.
And despite the concerns about City of Sydney, the bulk of new cases still lie in the west, with 1848 infections in Canterbury-Bankstown and 1570 in Cumberland reported over the past week.
Health officials ‘overruled’ by NSW politicians
NSW has hopefully just over five weeks of lockdown left, with the state announcing its road map to freedom had been approved by Crisis Cabinet last night.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro revealed October 18 had been set as the date to reopen hospitality and retail, with the state inching closer to its target of 70 per cent double dose vaccination.
Despite the go ahead, The Australian reports chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant and NSW Health officials advised against opening up at 70 per cent double dose.
The health officials, according to the report, eventually agreed to the target but had advised to reopen the economy when vaccination levels were closer to 85 per cent double dose.
Dr Chant reportedly cited Israel and the UK as examples of nations opening up and later suffering due to limited vaccine coverage.
The health officials were overruled by the premier and other senior ministers, with Dr Chant later agreeing to the 70 per cent target, as long as the R effective transmission rate was below 1.
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