Coronavirus: Why next week is critical for NSW
The state of NSW is at possibly its most critical stage of the coronavirus pandemic with the coming week expected to set the tone for its long-term recovery.
A graph shared on Tuesday by Professor Mary Louise McLaws, a WHO advisor and infection control expert at UNSW, revealed NSW to be dangerously close to tracking a similar path as Victoria.
Professor McLaws stated that while Victoria’s average daily change in cumulative case numbers had continued to decline slowly, NSW had begun to record daily increases similar to that seen in early July.
“Next week is critical in NSW to see if another surge is coming; wear masks & continue good public health practices,” Prof McLaws wrote in her post to Twitter Tuesday evening.
The graph showed lines representing both states with Victorian cases showing a “good decline” in numbers while those in NSW looked to be on a steeper upward trajectory and increasing in numbers.
One Twitter user said the graph showed “good news for now” and encouraged others to “stay alert” so the numbers would not spike once again.
Nine new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in NSW in the 24 hours before midnight last night, including three returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, five linked to a known case or cluster, and one from South Eastern Sydney with an unknown source.
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The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed 55 new cases for Victoria on Tuesday after 41 cases and nine deaths on Monday.
The state’s death toll now stands at 683, while there have been 770 deaths nationally.
While the state can move to its next stage of its four-part roadmap if average daily cases remain below 50 for 14 days, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he will not allow Melbourne to move ahead before September 28 even if the threshold has been met.
However, he said that subsequent steps could come quicker if their thresholds were met earlier than the date outlined.
Step Three is pencilled in to commence on October 26 if the daily case average remains below five for 14 days.
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