Coronavirus Australia: Virus effectively contained in NSW, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant believes NSW is unlikely to face another major wave of COVID-19 infections this year.

NSW Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant. Picture: AAP

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant believes the state is unlikely to face another major wave of COVID-19 infections this year, with the virus effect­ively contained and transmission rates ­reduced to nearly zero.

In a private briefing with NSW politicians on Tuesday, Dr Chant said the likelihood of a second wave occurring in NSW would be low, despite the coming easing of social restrictions from Monday, which will test the state’s ability to maintain its low infection rates.

But she said this would be contingent on people abiding by strict social-distancing protocols and best hygiene practices.

Dr Chant unders­cored num­erous times that the community could not fall into complacency.

MPs privy to the call said the government appeared to lack a formal policy for dealing with a second wave if it did occur.

“There is no policy,” said one government MP. “The policy for how to deal with a second wave is that we’ll evaluate it at the time. Her (Dr Chant’s) message was: it’s very possible to contain all this ­because we don’t have the inter­nationals coming in, and we have good social distancing and hygiene­ practices.”

NSW has recorded barely a handful of new cases each day this month, according to data dissem­in­ated by NSW Health. As of 8pm on Monday, two new cases had been recorded, both ­incoming travellers who were undergoin­g mandatory 14-day quarantines in a Sydney hotel.

Nationwide, there have been 7133 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak first emerged. In NSW, 3092 people have been confirmed with the virus, of whom just one is currently in an intensive care unit.

Daily testing numbers for the virus have hovered between 6000 and 10,000 each day. This includes weekends when, officials say, numbers have tended to fall.

Hotel quarantines will remain in force for the foreseeable future. A NSW government spokes­woman said more than 18,000 travellers had entered these hotels since the regime was introduced on March 28, a tough but effective policy that, according to Dr Chant, had drastically reduced the number of cases being imported from overseas.

These cases had contributed to the early COVID-19 spikes that occurred during late March and early April, when officials were recording in excess of 200 positive infections a day.

But as the state moves to significantly ease its social restrictions from June 1, freeing up restaurants and pubs to serve more patrons, along with other measures, concerns have become heightened among some MPs that infection rates could once again surge.

Dr Chant said this was less likely to occur now because there were so few identified cases of the virus. Contact tracing had also improved, and international arrivals were no longer a looming threat.

“We have a relatively small group of people that have identified as having the virus,” Dr Chant told the MPs.

A second MP who took part in the conference call later told The Australian: “What she expected was that we would have spikes rather than another wave. She was suggesting that because we have such a low level of community transmission at the moment, she was saying if we can keep it less than that, even if there are spikes, we won’t have another wave.”

NSW has already lifted restrictions for restaurants, pubs and other venues, allowing them to serve up to 10 patrons at a time. But from June 1, this will be expanded to allow for 50 patrons at a time.

Museums, art galleries and libraries will also be permitted to reopen, as will intrastate travel, to encourage a trickle of domestic tourism.

The Australian has learned that the National Parks and Wildlife Service is accelerating work to reopen some of its campgrounds, visitor centres and historic sites.

Dr Chant told MPs it would take up to six weeks before the impact of these newly eased restrictions would be measurable for modelling purposes.

The longer-term forecast for how to manage the virus would be reliant on the emergence of a vaccine.

Herd immunity had also been discussed, but it remains a less attractive option because so few of NSW’s eight million residents have contracted the virus.

Dr Chant said church services remained an ongoing concern, particularly those with choirs, which could expose congregants to droplets in the air as they sing.

Similar risks had been identified at live music venues, she told the MPs.