NSW reveals more than 53,000 people have sent their positive RAT results

In a period of six hours since self-reporting of rapid antigen tests went live in NSW, tens of thousands of residents have uploaded their positive Covid test results.

Customer services minister Victor Dominello revealed on Wednesday afternoon that since the system went live at 9am there were 53,909 at-home positive results sent through.

Huge fines of $1,000 were also brought in on Wednesday morning for those who don’t report positive RAT results – despite Premier Dominic Perrottet admitting it will be difficult to enforce.  

Mr Perrottet said there will be a ‘grace period’ for fines, with the penalties kicking in in seven days. 

When asked why the government took so long to create their own testing system compared to other states, Mr Dominello said it was because the NSW system was more complex.

‘Most other places simply have a web form. We’re connecting it to the app because once we connect it to that app, we can then connect you healthcare services as well, and that’s the key feature of what we’re doing here in NSW,’ he said.

‘We are basically stratifying those who have Covid into two categories. Those with low risk and those with high risk.’

The premier said PCR tests will continue to be used alongside rapid tests amid the surge in cases, admitting that reporting RAT results would be hard to enforce.

‘There are obviously areas right across the state where there are laws that are harder to enforce than others – this is clearly one that will be harder to enforce, there’s no doubt about it,’ he said.