PETER STEFANOVIC:
Well, joining us live now is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Sonya Bennett. Doctor, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning. We are at five cases at the moment. Are there any more, as far as you know?
SONYA BENNETT:
Oh, good morning, Peter. No, my information is that we have those five cases, as reported yesterday. We can expect to see more. We've got good surveillance at the borders with the measures introduced, and so, we may well see more cases as we continue to monitor and test people. But five at the moment, all in isolation, which is good and certainly no cases we know of in community.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Why press the pause button on the arrival of migrants and international students, even though they would be double vaccinated heading into a country that has a very high vaccination levels?
SONYA BENNETT:
Well, it is a pause, as you say, it's a pause for two weeks. What we don't know, we just don't know enough about this virus. So, it does look like it's highly transmissible and infectious, and that's shown by the fact that it is spreading to a number of countries around the world. So not just in southern Africa. We're seeing now community transmission in countries such as Portugal, where initially we were seeing cases just in travellers to South Africa. And that's not unexpected, and we can expect to see the same here in Australia over time.
So, the pause is really to buy some time to understand more about this virus, to really clarify how effective- how effective vaccines are against the virus. As you say, we've got high coverage [audio skip] in Australia, which is fantastic. But we just don't know enough yet. So, over the next two weeks, it'll be critical to understand some of those aspects.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Highly transmissible but milder than previous variants- variants. Is that- is that a word that you would use to describe the new variant yet?
SONYA BENNETT:
It is. Based on what we know, that certainly seems to be the case. I mean, including our own five cases, they've all had very mild symptoms, if any symptoms at all. But, again, we just don't know enough. There aren't that many cases yet reported. You know, ironically, we need to see more cases to understand more about the virus. But all indications show that, particularly in vaccinated people, the disease does appear to be mild. And we're hoping that that's what will happen over the next couple of weeks. But hope's not a strategy.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Sure.
SONYA BENNETT:
So that's the reason really for the pause and the cautiousness until we do understand more about the virus.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Will two weeks be it or do you think it may be extended?
SONYA BENNETT:
So, at this stage, the plan is for two weeks. So, the reopening continues, it's a pause for two weeks. As we learn more about the virus, obviously, if the early signs change in any way that's concerning, we'll have to consider that along with all the information and provide advice to government. But at this stage it is two weeks. And- and that's …
PETER STEFANOVIC:
[Talks over] Sure.
SONYA BENNETT:
… as much as we can say at the moment.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. How long do you think it takes you to get all the necessary data, all the necessary information, to be able to make a solid call on Omicron?
SONYA BENNETT:
Well, that will be more than two weeks, so it takes a while, we'll- we'll get some early indication of how quickly it's spreading within two weeks, we'll get early indication of how severe illness is. Hopefully, we'll get indication of the difference between that in vaccinated and unvaccinated people. We'll probably understand through some laboratory studies how the vaccine still works. The antibodies produced by the vaccine work against this virus in neutralising it, which again, whilst not confirmatory evidence, is sort of an indication about how well vaccines continue to work.
So, we're hoping we have enough information to inform decisions. We're not going to get solid information, really, for a number of more weeks around that. But we'll keep monitoring the information as it comes out and to inform our decisions as we go.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So, if you don't have all the information within the next two weeks, then this initial two-week pause may well have to be extended?
SONYA BENNETT:
Look, I can't say one way or the other. All I can say is we will continue to monitor the- to the information. As I said, ironically, the more cases that we see around the world, the more information we'll have. Now, nobody necessarily wants that, but it's- we've been here before. So very early on last year, we made decisions based on uncertainty and Australia, really, the outcome we've had with the pandemic has- we've been- had a very good outcome and we're in good stead to manage this new Omicron variant as well the same way.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, Doctor, just a quick one here to wrap up. Is there any reason for- for- for state premiers to keep their borders closed or close them if they've just opened them up, given what you know so far?
SONYA BENNETT:
So that will be a matter for the states and territories, and as you know, National Cabinet's on this afternoon.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah.
SONYA BENNETT:
They'll be discussing the re-opening plan as we go. Again, it's too early for information at the moment. The measures at the international border will work to really slow the entry of this virus into Australia and as we as we learn more information over the next couple of weeks. So, it's really a day at a time.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Dr Sonya Bennett, thanks for your time. Appreciate it. We'll talk to you again soon.
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