Covid-19 Australia: Gladys Berejiklian warns residents will be living with virus for three years

Gladys Berejiklian has announced she will ditch her daily Covid-19 press conferences as a sign that it is time to normalise living alongside the virus.  

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the premier said residents needed to accept they would be living with the virus for the next three to four years.

She will soon no longer front media to provide daily updates on case numbers. Instead, she will only hold press conferences when there are important announcements to be made.

‘We also have to make sure that as a government, we normalise the way we do things every day, that we accept that, if there is nothing new to tell the public apart from the daily figures, and health will provide that,’ she said. 

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the premier said residents needed to accept they would be living with the virus for the next three to four years

Ms Berejiklian will host her last press conference at 11am on Sunday. From then on, health staff will provide daily updates about the outbreak via video link. 

‘From next week, I don’t know how this will be received, but the 11am information will be done by health staff through video link,’ she said. 

‘Minister [Brad] Hazzard or I will intermittently hold press conferences as required.’

The 11am press conferences have become a daily fixture for tens of thousands of New South Wales residents.  

The live-streamed events have kept the public informed about the latest number of cases and hotspots around the state.

Reporters questioned whether the premier had pulled the plug too early with the worst of the outbreak not yet over and numbers set to peak next week. There were 1,542 new cases reported on Friday.

‘Should we keep holding these press conferences until the peak has passed?’ one reporter asked.

Reporters questioned whether the premier had pulled the plug too early with the worst of the outbreak not yet over and numbers set to peak next week

Ms Berejiklian will host her last press conference at 11am on Sunday. From then on, health staff will provide daily updates about the outbreak via video link

Ms Berejiklian replied: ‘We will never know exactly when that is.’

‘I can assure the people of this state and they can judge me on my record, whenever I need to speak directly to the public, I absolutely will.’

Ms Berejiklian insisted that she would still host press conferences when she needed to make a big announcement.

‘If there is any situation we need to explain, anything going on or anything different, of course we will,’ she said.

‘We have to make sure that we present information when the public needs it and when it is important to do so and that remains the case.’

The premier said information about the daily case numbers would still be available by the new video link that would replace the conferences.  

‘We have the most transparent information of any state,’ she said. ‘That information we do, as well as the vaccination rates as well as regrettably the people who have lost their lives in these circumstances.’

Ms Berejiklian’s decision to put off the NSW Government’s return to parliament until ‘possibly’ October also drew criticism

The premier said information about the daily case numbers would still be available by the new video link that would replace the conferences

Her decision to put off the NSW Government’s return to parliament until ‘possibly’ October also drew criticism.

‘People seek the reassurance and opportunity to scrutinise decisions the government is making,’ a reporter said.

‘Parliament is not sitting. How can people have confidence that scrutiny of government is taking place?’ 

Ms Berejiklian responded: ‘The 12th of October is the date parliament resumes and I’m looking forward to it.’

‘Myself and all of the team are accountable every day. You will still see me quite frequently every week talking down at the camera.’