An infectious diseases expert who predicted Sydney would go into lockdown again fears Sydney will never achieve zero cases of Covid.
Until June, every state in Australia was able to have 28 days of no community transmission through lockdowns and contact tracing.
University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely said the more contagious Delta strain meant the elimination strategy was now impossible in New South Wales, which on Friday had a record 291 daily cases.
So far, 79 people have died in NSW since the Delta outbreak began in June, with an unvaccinated women in her sixties the latest victim in south-west Sydney.
The virus has also spread to the regions, with eight council areas in Newcastle, the Hunter Valley and Port Stephens on Thursday plunged into a one-week lockdown.
'For New South Wales, the chance of them achieving zero transmission now I think is very small,' Professor Blakely told Nine's Today show on Friday.
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An infectious diseases expert who predicted Sydney would go into lockdown again fears Sydney will never achieve zero cases of Covid. University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely said the more contagious Delta strain meant the elimination strategy was now impossible with New South Wales on Friday having a record 291 daily cases and five deaths
'They'll be the first part of Australia that will, quote unquote, learn to live with the virus but it's going to be quite messy in New South Wales for the next couple of months.'
Premier Gladys Berejiklian conceded trying to achieve zero Covid was difficult until 70 per cent of people were vaccinated.
'That has to be our aspiration,' she said on Friday.
'It's a challenge for us to live with Covid without this high vaccination rate.
'We do have the harsh lockdown. We've never dealt with Delta, you can't compare it to other lockdowns.'
On Thursday, Professor Blakely told the ABC's 7.30 program Australia's biggest state would never have zero Covid.
'In Sydney and New South Wales, it looks unlikely that
