AS NSW allows partially vaccinated regional workers to return to their workplaces from Monday, the state’s cross-border commissioner says he expects double-dose vaccination rates in Wentworth Shire to quickly follow the state as it nears 80 per cent.
As part of the NSW Government’s public health order released on Thursday, regional workers will be able to return to work and have until November 1 to receive their second vaccine dose.
The changes follow NSW reaching its 70 per cent double-dose target and will allow the state to ease several restrictions from Monday.
Changes to the Reopening NSW roadmap mean up to 10 people will be able to visit NSW residents at their home, and the cap on outdoor gatherings will be raised to 30 people.
Indoor pools will also be reopened for swimming lessons, squad training, lap swimming and rehab activities.
NSW cross-border commissioner James McTavish said he expected regional NSW would soon follow the state on reaching 80 per cent double-dose vaccination, with NSW expected to reach the mark by as early as “the middle of next week”.
“We’re likely to see a substantial increase in fully vaccinated people in the next 10 days or two weeks in regional New South Wales.
“I expected Wentworth will be (at 80 per cent) pretty shortly thereafter.”
Last weekend Wentworth Shire’s double-dose vaccination rate sat at 56.6 per cent, while the NSW figure was 69.1 per cent on Thursday.
Once the state clears the 80 per cent double-vaccine target, further restrictions will be relaxed.
Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Year 12 students will return to face-to-face learning on October 18, with all other years joining them on October 25.
While the latest public order stated that roadmap freedoms would be for “fully vaccinated people only”, Mr McTavish said high vaccination rates would help reduce the pressure on regional NSW’s health system as more people visited the region.
“The likelihood of an adverse outcome for people who are fully vaccinated is substantially reduced.
“A period of high levels of community transmission may not necessarily result in high levels of hospitalisation because the population is vaccinated, or you might actually see particular outbreaks behaving slightly differently into the future, and that is likely.”
However, Mr McTavish said there would be some “pressure on hospital systems, and the best thing that people can do is to take matters into their own hands and get vaccinated”.
He said it was “likely that there will be an increase in COVID case numbers across New South Wales and Victoria” and people should continue to take the disease seriously.
