The chief executive of medical research body Burnet Institute said stage four restrictions would need to be in place for another four weeks with Sydney’s outbreak worsening.Mr Crabb claimed that was because an unmitigated Delta strain worsened exponentially when compared with other strains of the virus.“I’m afraid so,” Mr Crabb said when asked about a four-week lockdown extension for Sydney.“It’s because of Delta. Delta is two or three times more infectious than anything we’ve faced previously. “That may not sound like much but what it corresponds to is the original strain in a month if there were no mitigations, one case would have turned into a thousand cases. “But for Delta, one case turns into 50,000 cases; 50 times worse. That’s what NSW and Australia are up against it.”Mr Crabb was not suggesting Delta is 50 times worse than other strains – he said it was two or three times more transmissible – but if left unmanaged in a community, his institute believed it multiplied at a faster rate.The researcher said the NSW government had missed an opportunity to lock down tighter, earlier, but revealed what restrictions should look like for greater Sydney if it wants to successfully contain the outbreak.“Well, it looks at a number of things … to make movement restrictions, particularly retail shopping, non-essential work tightened up, distance you can travel from your home (tightened), and even things like mandating masks from the time you leave home. “That seems odd to people but it guarantees you always where a mask. There are a number of rules like that came into place in Melbourne last year. “When we model that against the Sydney outbreak, that brings this to a close within a month’s time, back to zero. “We think it is most definitely worth doing. Of course you can’t predict the future, these are models, but that’s our best guess.”
Powered by WPeMatico
