December 17 2021
Three more passengers, who were on the same flight as New Zealand’s first Omicron case, have tested positive for Covid-19. Video / NZ Herald
New South Wales' Health Minister Brad Hazzard has refused to publicly release recent University of NSW research suggesting the state could see a possible surge of up to 25,000 cases per day by the end of January.
Hazzard was quizzed about the modelling after 2566 new cases were record on Sunday, eclipsing the 2482 cases on Saturday, which had been the most recorded in any Australian state or territory since the beginning of the pandemic.
"Modelling is only as good as the inputs that you have," Hazzard told reporters. "I think it is considered to be excellent modelling but it is also modelling that has a lot of qualifications around it. It adds to our sense of heightened alertness but it isn't definitive, it is not locked in."
He said "there is always an "epidemiologist with a different view" and that releasing the modelling would not be appropriate, "particularly as it's a cabinet document".
"We're seeing about 2500 a day, so hopefully we don't get to 25,000 [a day]," Hazzard said.
The spike in the state's case numbers comes as Omicron emerges as the dominant variant.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet was asked what it would take to reintroduce restrictions, but put the onus on the community, saying "the government can't do everything".
"What is key to us as well is personal responsibility. We have mandated masks in high-risk settings ... and that will be with us for some time," he said. "We are completely focused on keeping people safe. But ultimately in addition to that, we need to learn to live alongside the virus."
Perrottet acknowledged case numbers would increase but emphasised personal responsibility.
"It's over to the people of our state," he said. "It's the people of our state that have got us through the last two years and it's the people of our state who will get us through the next two."
Perrottet was repeatedly pressed on the issue of masks, with one reporter pointing out that doctors and nurses around the world were saying they should be mandated indoors "at least until we see what Omicron does".
"There's always different views, there's always different debates," Perrotter responded. "When we believe there's evidence in front of us we need to potentially tighten restrictions, we will."
New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard speaks during a Covid-19 update. Photo / Getty Images
Hazzard made similar comments.
"If you're in close proximity to people inside and it's a big group of people, consider wearing a mask," he said. "We also have to live our lives in a more normal way coming into 2022. We'll continue to strike the balance."
Hazzard said total hospital admissions were being closely watched.
NSW Health advised today that 227 people were in hospital with the virus, including 28 patients in ICU, 10 of whom require ventilation.
"Nobody in the world is entirely certain at this point what exactly the impact of the Omicron variant will be in terms of those admissions," Hazzard said.
"It could be Delta, it could be a range of other variants causing some of the uptick," he said.
"It is very, very hard to distinguish or understand the full impact until we see more weeks of experience in what's going on here New South Wales as to whether or not it is going to really lift our hospital intake or not."
