Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, has said she would not be surprised if further outbreaks were detected in New South Wales and other states within the next few weeks, and that situation is more serious than in March.

“The situation is extremely serious, and we have seen outbreaks in a wider areas over the past week, from north-west Melbourne, to inner Melbourne and even at the border in Albury-Wadonga. The surge in cases to 191 today despite the measures taken over the past week is worrying,” said Prof MacIntyre.

“It is possible there has been seeding of infection to other states, and silent epidemic growth which has not yet being detected. I would not be surprised to see epidemics detected in NSW and other states within the next few weeks. The situation we are in is more serious than late March, because we have community transmission, which is much harder to track than infection in return travellers,” she added.

She continued: “It is not an option to take the Swedish option – that has been a failure, and they failed abjectly to achieve herd immunity, because they followed a pseudoscientific theory that was never achievable. All they achieved was mass death, overwhelmed hospitals and reportedly, euthanasia of infected old and frail people.