People shouldn’t ‘throw their hands up in horror and say outbreak can’t be controlled’

Sydney’s latest COVID outbreak will be a “big test” for the Berejiklian government but people shouldn’t “throw their hands up in horror and say this can’t be controlled," says Infectious Diseases Physician Professor Peter Collignon. On Wednesday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a range of restrictions across Greater Sydney in a bid to prevent a lockdown after the Bondi cluster grew to 31 cases. “I think it is a big test because there’s 10 to 15 new cases per day and some of these are what we call mystery cases in the community where we haven’t identified where it’s coming from,” Professor Collignon said. “It’s also winter when the virus is spread more readily than summer, and basically it’s a strain, the Delta strain which does spread more readily than other strains. “But on the bright side, more of the people who’ve been infected have been identified as contacts already and were already in isolation”. Professor Collignon pointed out New South Wales has had “a very good track record” controlling large outbreaks such as the Avalon and Berala clusters last January. “So I don’t actually think everybody should throw their hands up in horror and say this can’t be controlled”. Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au