Gladys Berejiklian says we’ll be living with Covid for ‘three or four years’ as she explains why she’s ending her daily press conferences – and lockdown-loving journalists are NOT happy with her
- Gladys Berejiklian announced she would ditch daily Covid-19 press conferences
- She warned residents must learn to live with the virus for the next four years
- The premier will front media when important announcements need to be made
Gladys Berejiklian has announced she will ditch her daily Covid-19 press conferences as a sign that it is time for residents to learn to live 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 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.
Gladys Berejiklian has warned Covid-19 is here to stay and announced she will no longer hold daily press conferences as residents must learn to live with the virus
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 updates have kept the public informed about the latest number of cases and hotspots around the city.
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.
‘Should we keep holding these press conferences until the peak has passed?’ one reporter asked.
‘We will never know exactly when that is,’ Ms Berejiklian said. ‘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.’
‘But 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.’
More to come