But Professor Esterman said the fact that cases from the Berala BWS were spread across a large area likely explained why the government hadn’t imposed a lockdown there.
“It would be much more difficult to have lockdowns or partial lockdowns or tell people to stay at home because it would be covering virtually the whole of grater Sydney,” he said.
I’m constantly amazed at the antics of the NSW government.
Professor Adrian Esterman, epidemiologist
Sydney’s northern beaches were thrown into lockdown on December 19 as the region grappled with a rapidly growing coronavirus outbreak stemming from a local RSL.
The Avalon cluster, which is believed to have started at the Avalon RSL on December 11, now totals 148 cases. The majority of those were northern beaches residents.
“Nearly 80 per cent of all the [current total NSW] cases come from the Avalon region,” Professor Esterman said.
“You’ve got a very highly concentrated group of cases in one region.
“I think it’s just as simple as that. That’s where most of the cases come from.”
But Professor Esterman said the impacts of the western Sydney bottle shop cluster could have been reduced if the NSW government had mandated masks earlier.
“I’m constantly amazed at the antics of the NSW government,” Professor Esterman said.
“Asking people to wear face masks is not a major imposition. It begs the question why they haven’t done this at the start of the outbreak.
“If staff [at Berala BWS] had been wearing masks and the patrons had been wearing masks, you probably wouldn’t have an outbreak.”
On New Year’s Eve the government was claiming masks weren’t necessary. Two days later they mandated them and are dubbing them a crucial tool against the virus.
Professor Esterman said there was no need for another lockdown in Sydney.
“I’m not worried about Sydney. They’ve shown many, many times they can control these outbreaks,” he said.
“The big worry is that the [state] borders aren’t totally closed.”
Professor Esterman praised Western Australia’s snap border closures to any states with local cases.
He also suggested a shake-up of Australia’s hotel quarantine program to prevent a leak of a highly contagious strain of COVID-19.
People should be screened for the coronavirus before they travel to Australia, he said.
The federal government should get defence to run hotel quarantine outside the cities and build airports in the regions so planes could land there directly.
It should also consider redoing the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre, which is currently housing two asylum seekers and their two Australian-born children.
“They could do the whole thing in a few weeks,” Professor Esterman said.
“It’s all a matter of whether the government wants to do it or not.”