Gladys Berejiklian promises to restore freedoms to the fully vaccinated as NSW prepares to hit six million doses – and hints at 'one new thing you can do' when target is met tomorrow
Gladys Berejiklian has doubled down on her plea for Australia to come to terms with the Delta variant and learn to live with it, admitting that it's inevitable people will die when the state emerges from lockdown.
In a TV interview blitz on Monday night, her first since the outbreak began on June 16, the Premier refused to admit any fault for the outbreak which has now climbed to more than 800 cases a day, claiming the lives of 74 people.
To thank the long-suffering people of NSW and Sydneysiders who've been under harsh stay-at-home order for nine weeks, Ms Berejiklian said she will ease at least one restriction from September.
The embattled leader said we cannot 'live like hermits' forever and must face some hard truths about opening up, admitting Australia will likely never be free from Delta.
Ms Berejiklian was grilled over her handling of the crisis on A Current Affair by veteran presenter Tracy Grimshaw, who asked whether Australians would be ready to see cases and deaths skyrocket when lockdown restrictions are eventually eased after the state's 70 per cent vaccination targets are reached.
Veteran presenter Tracy Grimshaw asked the Premier whether Australians would be ready to see cases and deaths rise when lockdown restrictions are eased after vaccine targets are reached
'We have to be confronted by the fact that we are going to see case numbers go up,' the Premier warned.
'I don't like to use this comparison but every year we lose between 600 to 800 people in NSW alone because of the flu.
'Unfortunately... we have to confront ourselves with the fact that that is what life will be like in NSW as horrible as it is.'
After a much faster than expected roll vaccine take up, the state is now on track to reach six million jabs on Tuesday - one week earlier than anticipated.
'I have never suggested that life will be free once we get to the six million jabs but what I have said and will honour is that if you are fully vaccinated, there will be at least one thing you can do what you cannot do now,' she said.
'We know that the harsh lockdowns in NSW are affecting every single citizen, so for us to be able to give them something they can do, which they couldn't previously do is an important opportunity.'
Gladys Berejiklian (pictured on A Current Affair) has promised fully vaccinated New South Wales' residents they will be given more freedom once 70 per cent of the state is vaccinated
MOST IMPORTANT POINTS DURING GLADYS' TV BLITZ
On Covid deaths:
7.30: 'We do have to accept unfortunately that people will succumb.'
A Current Affair: 'I don't like to use this comparison but every year we lose between 600 to 800 people in NSW alone because of the flu.'
'Unfortunately... we have to confront ourselves with the fact that that is what life will be like in NSW as horrible as it is.'
On endless lockdowns:
7.30: 'It's completely unrealistic, I don't know any state or nation on the planet who abides by those rules, it's just not possible. We can't pretend we're extra special and very different from other places.
'To suggest that living with Delta means zero cases is completely unrealistic. It won't happen anywhere else in the world.'
A Current Affair: 'Other state premiers have chosen to close borders with few numbers, we can't always control what other states do.
'We asked them to consider all states will have to go through the challenge of transitioning to living with Covid.
'We cannot be closed off from the rest of the world and we have to come to terms with it.'
On her leadership:
7.30: 'There's no perfect way of dealing with the pandemic and I'm very comfortable in being held accountable.'
A Current Affair: 'None of us know exactly where the journey will take us as decision-makers. I wish we had 2020 hindsight... but I am very upfront about being held accountable'
On freedoms:
A Current Affair: 'We won't have real freedom unless we hit 70 per cent double dose vaccination. In NSW, we are likely to have that at the end of October and an 80 per cent double dose vaccination, which gives us life before the outbreak, pretty much life as we knew it, in the middle of November.'
The Premier did not specify what that extra freedom would be, but said the move is being made to give 'people a bit of relief' until we get to the 70 per cent double dose rate.
'If you think about it, in the last week in NSW alone, three quarters of one million people in one week have come forward and had a vaccine, and that is outstanding,' she said.
But despite the rapid progress NSW will not likely reach its inoculation goal until late October.
'So the challenge for us is how can we live through September and October safely before we hit that 70 per cent vaccination rate. And that's the challenge,' the premier said.
Pictured: People queue to be vaccinated at the New South Wales Health mass vaccination hub in Homebush on Monday - as millions roll up their sleeves to end lockdowns
Asked whether she regretted not locking down Sydney's east when the outbreak began on June 16, the Premier said decisions had been made based on the 'best advice at the time'.
Patient Zero is believed to be an unvaccinated driver who ferried international flight crews from Sydney Airport to nearby hotels.
At the time, it wasn't mandatory for those involved in international flights or border control to receive the jab, something that has since changed.
'As decision-makers, I wish we had 2020 hindsight, but there is so much we could have done differently,' she said.
'So many things we do not understand that we understand now. I will be the first to say, I am very upfront about being held accountable.
'I lead the government, but we base all the decisions on the best advice at the time, based on experience, and we will not be perfect, and we have not, far from it, lots of mistakes have happened and will continue to happen.'
Pictured: A local receives a dose of a Covid vaccine at a newly opened vaccination hub in Dubbo with fears the virus is battering more and more regional communities
Ms Berejiklian was asked whether children would be allowed back in the classroom with the infection rate soaring.
The Premier said at-home learning is set to continue during September but an announcement of the future of schooling will be made later this week.
'The key number is the vaccination rate. If we know a certain percentage of the ablation is vaccinated, that gives us a greater degree of comfort,' Ms Berejiklian said.
'The health experts have been planning, in resourcing, and we have to be open to the fact that we have to live with this disease, otherwise, we cannot be lockdown for ever.
'We can't live like hermits forever, we can't live like hermits forever, we can't separate Australia and New Zealand from the rest of the world.'
In a flurry of TV interviews on Monday night, the besieged leader also appeared on ABC's 7.30 where she endured a similar interrogation from Leigh Sales who asked how many daily deaths would be acceptable.
'Can I make clear, we don't want to tolerate any deaths but we appreciate that when you're in the middle of a pandemic, when you have an unvaccinated population, unfortunately death is going to be a consequence,' Ms Berejiklian said.
'Our job is whilst we get those high vaccination rates is to keep people safe, well and out of hospital. That’s why we do have those strict lockdowns in place to buy ourselves time get those vaccination rates up.
'You have to be real about it. I wish there was an easy way to say we're gonna have to zero cases and then somehow got to 100 per cent vaccination - but that’s just not the real world.
'We do have to accept unfortunately that people will succumb.'
During the interview, the Premier blasted other state leaders for not following the roadmap laid out by the Doherty Institute for the National Cabinet.
Western Australia's Mark McGowan, Victoria's Dan Andrews and Queensland's Annastacia Palaszczuk have all voiced their concerns about reopening when Covid cases are soaring.
But Ms Berejiklian says their stance is not realistic in the midst of a pandemic.
'To suggest that living with delta means zero cases is completely unrealistic. It won't happen anywhere else in the world,' she said.
Even a state that has zero cases for a long time it is going to have to open up its borders eventually. And whenever that happens you're going to see an influx of cases that's just how the virus works.
'No amount of government intervention or lockdown is going to get you to zero cases.'
What are the four phases of opening up?
A. Vaccinate, prepare and pilot (from July 14)
Arrival caps cut in half to 3,035 a week; early, stringent and short lockdowns if outbreaks occur; trials of seven-day home quarantine for vaccinated arrivals in South Australia; medicare vaccination certificates available on apps like apple wallet
B. Post vaccination phase (when 70 per cent are jabbed, expected late this year)
Lockdowns 'less likely but possible'; vaccinated people face reduced restrictions; caps for unvaccinated arrivals increased; a larger cap for vaccinated arrivals with 'reduced quarantine requirements'; capped entry for students and economic visa holders
C. Consolidation phase (when 80 per cent are jabbed, time not announced)
Lifting all restrictions for outbound travel for vaccinated travellers; no caps for vaccinated arrivals; increased caps for students and visa holders; more travel bubbles being set up with countries such as Singapore; booster shots rolled out
D. Final phase (percentage or time not announced)
Uncapped arrivals for vaccinated people without any quarantine and uncapped arrivals for unvaccinated people with testing before departure and on arrival