UNSW professor of epidemiology Mary-Louise McLaws made the “grim” prediction while speaking to the Today show, suggesting case numbers have not yet reached their peak.“It feels like the horse has bolted,” she told the program.“It looks pretty grim. I don’t believe that we reached the peak yet of case numbers that have not been in full isolation while being contagious.“We have a problem because that means that we probably will take another 50-odd days to get back down to that zero level that we need.”She said it was unlikely NSW could start lifting restrictions until there were no infectious people in the community. “Any idea of lifting restrictions before that is very, very dangerous because we don’t have nearly enough vaccine uptake yet,” Professor McLaws said.She said getting the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines into the hotspots rapidly would help tackle the spread, but it was going to take a lot more jabs in arms before it was safe to reopen.“Don’t forget 70 or 80 per cent of the adult population is actually about 56 or 64 per cent of the total population. That means, only one in two people will be protected,” Professor McLaws said.NSW recorded another 283 infections on Monday, with case numbers showing no sign of slowing down.This included an infected Sydney man who travelled to Byron Bay.Four local government areas on the NSW North Coast were ordered into a snap lockdown from 6pm on Monday as a result.The Byron Bay, Richmond Valley, Lismore and Ballina shires will be subject to stay-at-home orders for at least seven days.The lockdown is due to end at 12.01am on Tuesday, August 17.People who live in the LGAs or anyone who has been there since July 31 will be subject to the same rules as those living in Greater Sydney and the other locked-down areas in regional NSW.“We understand this is a difficult time for the community and appreciate their ongoing patience and co-operation,” NSW Health said in a statement on Monday evening.
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