Dominic Perrottet backflips on ‘personal responsibility’ mantra to reintroduce mask mandate in NSW
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has backflipped on his “personal responsibility” approach to mask-wearing by reintroducing a mandate requiring them to be worn indoors while also reinstating social distancing measures in hospitality venues.
The premier additionally announced a return to mandatory QR code check-ins at some retail venues.
Perrott’s about-face on Thursday came as the state reported 5,715 new Covid cases and one death. There were 347 people in hospital with 45 in intensive care.
Some 1,500 health workers are currently furloughed either because of Covid-induced illness or as a result of isolation orders.
Perrottet loosened Covid restrictions on 15 December despite health experts suggesting it was a “no-brainer” to keep them in place due to the rapid spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of coronavirus.
On Thursday, the state’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said the Omicron variant had displaced Delta as the predominant form of the virus, accounting for about 80% of cases currently in the state. She said the arrival of the strain in Australia “largely explains the steep rise in cases”.
“The Delta case numbers did start to rise in mid-December, but we’re now seeing the Delta proportion of cases declining and that large uptick being accounted for by Omicron,” she said.
Some 160,000 tests were performed in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday night and the premier said it was placing enormous strain on the system. Some 20% of those tested were doing so because of inter-state border restrictions that require a negative Covid test before travel, he said.
Thursday marked a significant shift in the government’s pandemic messaging, with Perrottet also conceding testing centres had been overwhelmed by demand. He called on people not to line up for a PCR test unless they had symptoms.
“I do know there has been a fair bit of frustration out there. Many people waiting hours in queues, particularly as we come into Christmas,” he said.
“We’re doing everything we can to alleviate that pressure. In addition to the PCR testing, if you’re unwell and those people from NSW ... if you aren’t feeling unwell, please do not get a PCR test.”
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The health minister, Brad Hazzard, said high testing numbers were “sucking the energy out of all the frontline pathology workers”.
“I would ask everybody to listen very carefully to the message that if you don’t need to go – if you haven’t got symptoms or haven’t received a message telling you that you must have a PCR test – probably you don’t need to have a PCR test,” Hazzard said.
Both Chant and Perrottet said early data from NSW supported suggestions from overseas that Omicron may result in less severe illness than previous strains of the virus. The chief health officer said the risk of hospitalisation appeared to be about “60% to 80% less than for Delta”.
“But the issue is the increased transmissibility, leading to high case numbers, and the impact this is having on vulnerable settings, vulnerable people and critical workforces, such as our health and aged care workforce,” Chant said.
Perrottet described the changes as “slight” and said they would have a short shelf-life. Both the mask mandate – which starts at midnight – and the one person per 2 sq metre rule – starting 27 December – would only remain in place until 27 January, the premier said. He also encouraged people to work from home where possible.
“We’ve always said as we have moved through this that we will monitor the situation and the evidence in
front of us,” the Liberal leader said.
“We are in a strong position in our state, and the slight changes we have made as we move through until 27 January are modest but cautious, to make sure NSW gets through the holiday season.”
The NSW government had been under increasing pressure to reintroduce the indoor mask mandate, particularly after the federal chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, advised masks “should be mandated in all indoor settings including retail, hospitality when not eating or drinking, and entertainment facilities”.
Perrottet on Thursday refused to say when his own chief health officer had first advised the government to reintroduce the mandate – saying only that the government had conducted a “balancing act” between public health and the economy.
The premier sought to attribute the change to an increasing number of health workers being subject to isolation orders or ill with Covid-19. That’s despite Hazzard having said that number was already 1,400 on Tuesday.
“We just ask everybody to use personal responsibility [and] please be cautious as we move through this phase,” Perrottet said.
The government has said it will investigate the possibility of providing free rapid antigen testing in a bid to stem the ballooning wait times at Covid-19 testing centres.
Perrottet on Thursday continued to repeat his calls for people to also take “personal responsibility”.
Along with the reintroduction of social distancing measures inside hospitality venues, the premier encouraged people “not to mingle” at indoor gatherings over the Christmas and New Year periods.
Chant said: “We are introducing those density restrictions and hospitality settings and discouraging activities we know are associated with increased transmission: singing, dancing, things often associated with fun.”
“At this time of year, we have to tell it as it is in terms of what are the things associated with risk, especially indoors,” she said. “Please take those activities outdoors – with lots of social distancing.”
Prof Mary-Louise McLaws, a professor of epidemiology at the University of NSW and adviser to the World Health Organization, praised the plan to have asymptomatic casual contacts use free rapid antigen tests instead of adding to the state’s already overwhelmed PCR testing queue capacity.
“I’m pleased authorities are starting to appreciate how RAT tests can be used as important public health tools … they cost a fraction of PCR tests to conduct.”
McLaws suggested people using RATs when they were a casual contact of a case should wait until two days after their exposure to take their first test – to allow antigen levels to pick up.
If the first RAT was negative, she advised no further tests until five days after exposure, by which point, if the virus was present, it would most likely register.
“I’m not concerned that this is going to be problematic, in fact, it’s a very good use of technology when the system is overwhelmed. Particularly for people who don’t have symptoms, it’s a much better use of resources,” McLaws said.
Prof Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at the Australian National University, agreed the shift to RATs for asymptomatic casual contacts made sense, especially given current wait times.
“We’re overwhelmed with the amount of testing right now because of border rules and Christmas … we’re not living in a zero-Covid world, so we have minimise the spread from the people most likely to have it,” he said.