Australia plans to begin relaxing restrictions once 70% of over-16s are fully vaccinated. But as Israel shows us, it’s likely not enough to reach herd immunity, especially with the Delta variant.
$50 million could provide all NSW school classrooms with air purifiers with HEPA filters. This pales compared to the roughly $220 million-a-day cost of Sydney’s lockdown.
NSW needs to mandate masks outdoors, provide adequate financial support, set up a ‘ring of steel’, use rapid tests for essential workers, and ensure cases not in full isolation get to zero, among others.
NSW's successful test and trace strategy controlled the Crossroads Hotel outbreak a year ago without needing a stringent lockdown. But this has not worked as well against Delta.
