The president of the NSW Australian Medical Association says the State Government may have eased coronavirus restrictions too soon, with the Northern Beaches COVID-19 outbreak potentially threatening all of Sydney this close to Christmas.
Danielle McMullen said the AMA had been clear that it wanted to make sure sensible restrictions were remaining in place as long as the threat of COVID-19 existed.
"It really does show what can happen if restrictions are eased too quickly, so we did have concerns that large hospitality venues like pubs and clubs had probably been allowed to ease too much," she said.
Dr McMullen said she supports Premier Gladys Berejiklian's move to lock down the Northern Beaches for five days.
"I think time will tell over the next 24 hours whether that works. The Premier has made it clear that further restrictions maybe be necessary tomorrow across Greater Sydney and the AMA is very supportive of restrictions being brought in early if necessary," Dr McMullen said.
Rural doctors say country areas need protecting
There has been a call for any Greater Sydney residents impacted by the current coronavirus cluster to not go to regional areas for Christmas.
The Rural Doctors Association of Australia said those areas were vulnerable to COVID-19, especially at a time of year when people would be travelling around the country.
The association's chief executive Peta Rutherford said while it would be a waiting game to see how far the cluster spreads, people needed to think of their families' health.
"They need to think not only about their own health and wellbeing but about the health and wellbeing of their families, their families' friends and unfortunately this will and should mean changes to some Christmas plans," Ms Rutherford said.
"People really need to limit travel and prevent the spread of the virus."
She said while it was a difficult economic decision, NSW regional and rural areas might need protecting.
"We do support a hotspot type approach in relation to restrictions and lockdown but certainly in relation to possible greater community spread, we would urge that there is consideration to additional restrictions," she said.
Dr McMullen said, in the end, the NSW Government potentially pushed the roadmap to recovery a "bit too quickly".
The NSW Premier is expected to announce later today whether any further restrictions will be imposed on Greater Sydney.
