Covid0-19: Canberra chief slams Gladys Berejiklian plans to reopen in New South Wales for mid-October

Asked about plans to reopen NSW in October, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he thought the idea was ‘ambitious’, stressing that Canberra was unlikely to follow suit .

“I wouldn’t assume that because NSW might be doing something adventurous and risky, we would copy them,” Barr told reporters during his update of the Covid-19 case on Monday.

“This is generally not our approach.”

Last Wednesday, Ms Berejiklian told residents of New South Wales that life would be “much more normal” by mid-October, when the state is expected to meet the target of 70% full vaccines.

“Whether it’s attending a public event or having a drink, if you’re fully immunized and the state has met its goal of 70% double-dose, expect to do all of those things that have been missing for too long, ”the NSW said.

But Mr Barr criticized Ms Berejiklian for assuming she was able to predict perfectly when the 70% vaccination milestone would be reached, and for assuming it would be safe to reopen at that point.

“It is difficult to predict whether NSW will start reducing the rate of vaccination growth because they have the most enthusiastic people who are already vaccinated and their share of the vaccine supply will start to decline,” said Mr. Barr.

“Right now playing entry or exit rule games on things that might happen in six or seven weeks, given that a lot can change in six or seven days, just seems a little silly.”

Instead, Mr Barr said his own jurisdiction would adapt its plan to reopen as the spread of the virus itself changes and changes.

“You want to understand the circumstances of the workload, the effective reproduction rate and where the effectiveness of the vaccine is at this point,” Barr said.

“If there is a noticeable reduction in cases and a noticeable reduction in the spread of the virus – then it would be safe to do so in six to seven weeks – then we will look at (the possibility of reopening) then. “

Canberra recorded 19 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Monday, bringing the national capital’s total epidemic to 404.

Of the 19 new cases, 11 were isolated throughout their infectious period, six were contagious in the community and two remain to be determined.

Thirteen of the transmissions relate to existing cases while six remain under investigation.

Mr Barr confirmed that eight Canberrans are now hospitalized with Covid-19, with one person in a ventilated intensive care unit.

The chief minister told reporters that although vaccination rates in ACT were good, the territory still had a long way to go.

“There are still 185,000 Canberrans without any vaccination and 267,000 that are not fully vaccinated,” he said.

“This means that we are still several months away from fully immunizing 80% of our population over 12 years of age. “