黑料吃瓜群网

New South Wales (NSW) may be just steps behind Victoria鈥檚 worsening COVID-19 crisis unless rigorous infection control measures are maintained, suggests the government鈥檚 Professor Michael Kidd.

In the last 24 hours Victoria has reported 384 new COVID-19 cases and 6聽more deaths, adding to its state-leading total of 9049 cases and 83 deaths since the outbreak began in January 2020.

In light of this, the government says NSW is on 鈥渉igh alert鈥� and that the next two weeks will be a vital period in terms of curbing the pandemic spread.

鈥淭he situation in NSW is very different to that of Victoria. Importantly, health authorities in NSW are currently attributing their cases to known outbreaks,鈥� Prof. Kidd told 黑料吃瓜群网 + Healthcare.

鈥淭hat said, NSW is on high alert and the next fortnight will be crucial. It is by no means inevitable, but everyone needs to keep doing what they have done so well to stop the spread of COVID-19.鈥�

Early research indicates that NSW may be better placed to weather the storm than Victoria, with factors like lower population density potentially minimising the rate of transmission.

However, Prof. Kidd said the ultimate determiner of a major outbreak will be human behaviour, with people鈥檚 willingness to follow health advice 鈥� like hand hygiene and social distancing 鈥� critical to keeping the R0 value (transmission rate) at an acceptable level.

鈥淭his virus has only been with us for just over six months and we are learning more about it every day. We know testing, tracing and isolating remain the best defences against its spread. Factors that impact this include density, climate and a city鈥檚 layout, but at its heart is behaviour,鈥� said Prof. Kidd.

Decisions about whether or not to mandate mask wearing in NSW will be made at the state level 鈥� based on factors such as trends in the local epidemiology and an assessment of the added value of such a mandate.

鈥淭he current advice from NSW is to actively encourage people in the areas where we鈥檙e seeing community transmission to wear a mask, particularly in situations where physical distancing is not going to be possible,鈥� said Prof. Kidd.

鈥淲earing a mask should also be considered for people who are at increased risk of COVID-19, people who have chronic health conditions or elderly people who, if they were infected, are at risk of severe illness.

鈥淚f face masks and coverings are used, they must be used appropriately, and along with the recommended other measures including staying home if unwell, hand and respiratory hygiene and physical distancing.

鈥淭he effectiveness of all these measures is reliant on a high level of compliance from the public, who are co-partners in the fight against COVID-19.鈥�

Image credit: 漏stock.adobe.com/au/seligaa