Hazzard: NSW may have to accept COVID-19 ‘has a life which will continue’

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has conceded the state may have to learn to live with the Delta variant circulating in the community if residents do not heed the medical advice. “I think at some stage, if the individuals that we need don’t hear Dr Chant’s message and don’t respond, then at some point we’re going to move to a stage where we’re going to have to accept that the virus has a life which will continue in the community,” he told reporters. Nevertheless, Minister Hazzard insisted health authorities were still working hard to ensure the suppression of the virus. “We’re trying damn hard at the moment to make sure that we can use every effort to suppress that virus, and right now is a critical time,” he said. “We’ve used that expression a number of times, but I can’t tell you, as Health Minister, just how critical it is at the moment, particularly for the community in south-west Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield and Liverpool. “Understand that your individual actions may well determine the future of this virus in our community.”

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has conceded the state may have to learn to live with the Delta variant circulating in the community if residents do not heed the medical advice.

“I think at some stage, if the individuals that we need don’t hear Dr Chant’s message and don’t respond, then at some point we’re going to move to a stage where we’re going to have to accept that the virus has a life which will continue in the community,” he told reporters.

Nevertheless, Minister Hazzard insisted health authorities were still working hard to ensure the suppression of the virus.

“We’re trying damn hard at the moment to make sure that we can use every effort to suppress that virus, and right now is a critical time,” he said.

“We’ve used that expression a number of times, but I can’t tell you, as Health Minister, just how critical it is at the moment, particularly for the community in south-west Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield and Liverpool.

“Understand that your individual actions may well determine the future of this virus in our community.”

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