Perrottet stands by decision to ease restrictions as NSW records 11,201 Covid cases and Omicron surges around Australia
The New South Wales government has told people travelling to Queensland over the holiday period not to line up for Covid-19 tests, conceding that pressures on the PCR system mean results are unlikely to be returned within the 72-hour window required to enter the sunshine state.
As daily case numbers in NSW almost doubled to 11,201 the premier, Dominic Perrottet, apologised for the strain on the state’s testing capacity which has seen long delays at Covid clinics throughout the state, but said people should not be in line for tests unless they were sick.
“There are many people in those queues who do not need to be there,” he said.
“We are doing everything we can to increase capacity and put downward pressure on those queues but if you are not sick and do not have any symptoms [and] have not been advised by NSW Health to receive a PCR test you should not be lining up.”
“By doing that you are taking the place of someone who needs to receive one of those PCR tests.”
It came as Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced on Wednesday that her state would drop its controversial requirement for interstate arrivals to receive a PCR test before crossing the border. Instead, from 1 January arrivals will only need to have a negative rapid antigen test.
The policy has been the subject of criticism from the NSW government, which has put much of the blame for long Covid testing lines and result delays on the pressure on the system caused by holidaymakers.
Perrottet thanked Palaszczuk for that decision on Wednesday, but the NSW health department has told people travelling before 1 January that there was no point lining up for a test because of the blown-out wait times.
In a statement, the department said people “seeking results to travel interstate that they are unlikely to receive their results within 72 hours”.
Perrottet also flagged changes to the isolation period for Covid positive people ahead of a hastily arranged national cabinet meeting on Thursday. He said he believed the government could make “sensible changes” to the policy.
The mooted change, which will be discussed along with a narrowed national definition of close contacts, follows recent decisions in both the US and UK which saw the isolation period drop to five and seven days respectively after a negative rapid antigen test.
“My preference would be that we have a national response, I understand though that other states are at a different part in time with this pandemic so different states at this moment have different challenges but we’ve seen globally that it makes a lot of sense to revisit and look at that isolation period based on the evidence that’s in front of us,” Perrottet said.
“I believe that will be a commonsense change which ensures as we move through this phase as case numbers increase we reduce the isolation period and that to me is really learning to live alongside the virus. I’d be really supportive of those changes.”
Covid case numbers have shot up across Australia amid the spread of the Omicron variant. On Wednesday Victoria recorded 3,767 new cases of Covid, up from 2,738 the day before. Queensland recorded 1,589 cases. Tasmania recorded 55 new cases. And South Australia reported another daily record increase, with 1,471 new cases.
The spike in cases on Wednesday was coupled with another jump in hospitalisations. In NSW there are now 625 people in hospital with the virus – up by 68 compared to Tuesday and by 323, or more than double, from a week ago.
That, coupled with the faltering testing system and the decision to back-track on the removal of an indoor mask mandate and QR-code checkin requirements, has seen the state premier come in for criticism from some health experts.
But Perrottet has insisted he does not regret easing restrictions earlier in December as the Omicron variant arrived in the state, and during a press conference on Wednesday he refused to concede he had struck the wrong balance between managing the virus and opening up the state’s economy.
“We have always said we will tailor our settings to the circumstances we find ourselves in,” he said.
“In every press conference we’ve said case numbers will increase. Now they’re increasing. We need to learn to live alongside the virus and we’re doing just that. And in the meantime there will be inconveniences as naturally as a society we adjust to those settings, and that’s OK.”
On Wednesday the NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, conceded that the delays in testing meant that the number of positive cases in the community was likely higher than the official figure, saying the initial wave of the Omicron variant could see about 10% to 15% the community acquire the virus.
The NSW government announced this week that it had placed an order for 20m rapid antigen tests, which are expected to arrive by the end of January. Perrottet said the government would investigate whether it could provide the tests free, amid increasing pressure on PCR testing.
Asked on Wednesday whether, if the government knew that cases would rise, he should have acted sooner to increase testing capacity, Perrottet said the government has been in negotiation with private pathology clinics to continue testing capacity over the Christmas period.
“We’re doing everything we can to get through those tests as quickly as possible,” he said.
South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, has also announced his state would no longer carry out pre-departure PCR tests for people leaving the state.
Marshall also announced that booster shots would now be mandated for frontline health workers.
The dramatic rise in cases – after the arrival of the Omicron variant – is proving to be the first significant test of Perrottet’s leadership since he replaced the former premier, Gladys Berejiklian, in October.
Perrottet has sought to convince NSW residents that living with Covid is an inevitable development and insisted that hospitalisations from the virus, not case numbers, should be the focus.
After case numbers began to rise in early December, Perrottet pushed ahead with easing restrictions, removing the use of QR codes in some retail venues and indoor mask mandates.
The premier was forced to backtrack before Christmas as Omicron became the dominant variant in the state and the number of health workers furloughed either with the virus or by isolation orders rose to about 1,500.