NSW premier Dominic Perrottet says no new restrictions will be introduced in NSW, despite calls from some sectors that more rules are necessary as the state weathers the current Omicron outbreak.
“We believe the current settings are proportionate to the current situation,” Perrottet said at a January 18 press conference. At present, singing and dancing is prohibited in venues such as nightclubs, masks are required in indoor settings except when eating or drinking, and hospitality venues must provide two square metres of space per patron.
The premier said “having a more open society” was better than going into lockdown. He also suggested that the people of NSW were taking “personal responsibility” by staying at home and avoiding crowded places. “There is no doubt that more of society is open than we had last year during lockdown. That does not mean that there are no issues that businesses are facing with challenges with staff. We accept that. That is part of the transitional phase that we are moving through. As we work through this there will be different challenges and difficulties that come our way but the worst-case scenario is that if you have an across-the-board lockdown at a time when we have a population that is highly vaccinated.”
However, evidence the Omicron variant is better at evading the immunity produced by two doses of the currently available vaccines is mounting. Of the 36 people who died from Covid-19 in the 24 hours to January 18, all but three were fully vaccinated, but only three had received a booster.
At a January 17 press briefing, lung specialist Dr Lucy Morgan also stated that many of the sickest hospital patients had not received a booster shot, and when asked by journalists if these were patients who were unboosted by choice, she said that in her experience the majority were people who were as yet ineligible for their booster dose. Currently, 51 per cent of eligible adults in NSW have received a third dose of a vaccine.
Morgan offered a grim picture of the immense pressure the state’s health infrastructure was under, saying that medical staff were “exhausted” and adding that the volume of hospitalisations from the Omicron variant would have knock-on impacts for anyone in need of medical attention in the state.
“It's really hard on us and it's really hard on the people of NSW because this is leading to some delayed diagnosis, some longer waiting times for everything, and a huge burden on our community as we try to keep everything ticking over,” Morgan warned. She also shared that at her hospital at 1am overnight, the senior nurse in the Covid-19 ward had clocked on at 7am the previous morning. "She'd been there all day with a double shift. The hospital is full of stories like that," she said.