Live breaking news: Health minister's 'threat' blasted as NSW's lockdown extended

An "enormous threat" issued by NSW's health minister today has been lashed by experts, who say the state has every right to question its situation.

A public health strategist has blasted an "extraordinary threat" issued by NSW's health minister.

Billy Bowtell, a strategic health policy adviser at UNSW joined The Project on Wednesday night to weigh in on the extended Sydney lockdown.

In particular, the panellists discussed NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard's comments about not listening to NSW's chief health officer Dr Kery Chant's message.

"At some stage, if individuals don't hear Dr Chant's message, then at some point we're going to move to a stage where we're going to have to accept that the virus has a life which will continue in the community," Mr Hazzard said.

"Well, that's an enormous threat," Mr Bowtell said.

"I think people in NSW have every right to say, 'What is going on? What is the objective of this lockdown?' And to conjure threats that say, 'If you don't do what we say, we'll just let COVID run…' I mean, have we really come to this?"

This is where Australia’s Covid-19 outbreak stands: NSW has 357 cases, Queensland has 34 cases, the Northern Territory has 10 cases, Western Australia has six cases and South Australia has six cases.

Follow below for more virus news. You can find yesterday’s blog here.