Speaking on ABC’s Q&A last night, Dr Kerryn Phelps said NSW needs to close its air border with Victoria if it wants to stop its virus cases increasing.
“I’m concerned that there are still planes coming in from Melbourne to Sydney without any checking and with people just being asked to self-isolate in Sydney when they arrive,” she said.
“We don’t know how many people are actually doing the self-isolating when they arrive.”
Arrivals from Victoria are told to self-isolate but are not required to go into mandatory hotel quarantine.
“NSW is on a precipice and unless we take it seriously and actually have an effective closed border, we are going to see leakage of these cases from Victoria over to New South Wales.”
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A doctor has taken aim at rule breakers after crowds were pictured blatantly ignoring social distancing at Bondi over the weekend.
Pictures taken of the grassy knoll area at North Bondi Beach show large groups crowding the area on Sunday, with majority not wearing masks and many flouting distancing rules.
Picture: Damian Shaw/NCA NewsWire
There were similar scenes in melbourne, when crowds flocked to St Kilda beach on Sunday just hours before the city went into stage four lockdown.
General Practitioner Ginni Mansberg blasted the selfish behaviour, labelling it “unconscionable”.
“You cannot behave in that way, we have all got to step up now,” she told Sunrise this morning.
“We know this thing is highly contagious.”
Dr Mansberg warned such careless actions could have deadly consequences.
"If you don't know you have it, you spread it to someone, they can die and it is a horrible death. They die alone," she said.
"Where's the humanity?"
She said the close people were to one another the more risk the virus could spread.
"If you are close, and that person coughs and sneezes or talks loudly and they have droplets coming out of their mouth, the closer you are, the more likely it is to land on your face. You can catch it," she said.
Dr Mansberg said it was less likely the virus would spread in an open space compared to a closed space but warned it was still very possible.
The former Australian Medical Association (AMA) president has called for plane services from Melbourne to Sydney to be cut off, warning NSW could see a "leakage" of COVID-19 cases.
Speaking on ABC's Q&A last night, Dr Kerryn Phelps said NSW needs to close its air border with Victoria if it wants to stop its virus cases increasing.
"I'm concerned that there are still planes coming in from Melbourne to Sydney without any checking and with people just being asked to self-isolate in Sydney when they arrive," she said.
"We don't know how many people are actually doing the self-isolating when they arrive."
Picture: Christian Gilles
Arrivals from Victoria are told to self-isolate but are not required to go into mandatory hotel quarantine.
"We know there are thousands of active cases in Victoria, there could be up to 10 times as many people who are infected who don't know it and we're just letting people get on planes without having a test before they get on the plane, arriving in Sydney and dispersing into the community," she said.
"NSW is on a precipice and unless we take it seriously and actually have an effective closed border, we are going to see leakage of these cases from Victoria over to New South Wales."
The former AMA president also said the "nonsensical" debate around wearing masks needs to end.
"We know with aerosol transmission now, airborne transmission, wearing a mask is some of the best protection that you can have," Dr Phelps said.
"You protect yourself, you protect others.
"There's been a nonsensical debate for months now, which has been so frustrating because it has not been evidence-based, about wearing masks."
Dr Phelps said NSW needs to head towards introducing compulsory masks, describing it as "one of the single most responsible things that we can do to protect each other".
Contact tracing is under way after two students from a school in Sydney’s southwest and another at a school in Western Sydney, tested positive for COVID-19, sending hundreds of staff and students into isolation.
Greenway Park Public School in Carnes Hill, west of Casula, is closed for deep cleaning. The before-and-after school care program has been cancelled.
Bonnyrigg High School, in Sydney’s west, has also closed after a student returned a positive test.
“The school will be non-operational tomorrow for the on-site attendance of staff and students to allow time for the school to complete the contact tracing process and have the school cleaned,” the school said in a statement posted to Facebook.
NSW Education said both schools will be “thoroughly cleaned” and they will assist the health department with the contact tracing process.
“All staff and students are asked to self-isolate while contact tracing occurs,” the department said.
-Erin Loyns, NCA NewsWire
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she hasn't ruled out bringing in tougher border measures for people arriving from Victoria.
Five of the 17 new cases reported yesterday were acquired in Victoria, including four family members that had arrived in Wagga Wagga from Melbourne.
While Victoria's new restrictions will likely drive down the amount of people crossing the border, Ms Berejiklian said more border rules would be brought in if need be.
"We are considering the situation with returning people from Victoria," she said on Monday.
"There are various checks in place, and if we need to do more, we will.
"We respond according to what is going on in our state and what we foresee might happen if we don't take certain actions, and we are always on our toes about what we might need to do to keep things as tight as possible."
Under current restrictions, people returning from Victoria to NSW are required to self-isolate for 14 days.
People that arrive via plane have their paperwork checked and are screened by health officials before being told to go home into isolation.
Picture: Simon Dallinger/NCA NewsWire
A key minister driving NSW’s COVID-19 response has warned the biggest threat to the state is complacency.
Victor Dominello, one of the government's senior ministers leading NSW's COVID-19 response, flagged that “stubborn” case numbers could force further restrictions.
"Compliance can be escalated up or down depending on infection rates. If the rates are stubborn then we can turn up the dial further on compliance," he told Nine newspapers.
"Given what is at stake in terms of jobs, we need to exhaust compliance measures before we shackle the economy."
NSW recorded 13 new coronavirus cases on Monday, including three in hotel quarantine and one who returned from Victoria.
NSW Health has released its own guidance on making a face mask to protect you from coronavirus.
The guidelines are below:
-A fluid-repellent layer on the outside layer of your mask gives the best protection.
-Three-layer masks are best. Two layers are the minimum.
-Have one for each time of the day you think you’ll need it (for example, one for the train in the morning, one for when you are out buying lunch and one for the train in the evening). Wash your collection of masks at the end of each day.
-Handle masks safely. You wouldn’t leave your used tissue on your desk or hanging around your neck. Treat your used mask like a used handkerchief.
-Clean your hands before and after you put on your mask or any time you feel like you want to adjust your mask. Having hand sanitiser in a small bottle with you at all times will help keep you safe.
-Masks are not for babies and children under two years old. Masks can be choking hazards for infants and toddlers.
-Remember, the safest thing is to not go into a crowded place. Masks help you protect other people, they are not a substitute for physical distancing.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMijgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS93b3JsZC9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy9hdXN0cmFsaWEvY29yb25hdmlydXMtbnN3LWxpdmUtY292aWQxOS1zeWRuZXktdXBkYXRlcy9saXZlLWNvdmVyYWdlL2JhNjhiM2NhZWFmZWYwY2M2ZjQ3ZTIyOGFiMWJkNzVm0gGSAWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5ld3MuY29tLmF1L3dvcmxkL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzL2F1c3RyYWxpYS9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1uc3ctbGl2ZS1jb3ZpZDE5LXN5ZG5leS11cGRhdGVzL2xpdmUtY292ZXJhZ2UvYmE2OGIzY2FlYWZlZjBjYzZmNDdlMjI4YWIxYmQ3NWYvYW1w?oc=5
2020-08-03 23:17:53Z
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