It's unlikely residents in large parts of New South Wales will emerge from lockdown as planned on Friday, a leading health expert has warned.
The editor of the Medical Journal of Australia said he is not convinced that lockdown will be lifted on July 9 due to a steady rise in local case numbers and unlinked transmissions.
Professor Nick Talley has warned restrictions will likely last "a little bit longer".
"I think the lockdown is working but I'm not sure we're going to wrap it up in two weeks," Professor Talley said on 2GB this morning.
READ MORE: NSW virus numbers spike with 31 new local cases
https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/medical-expert-dashes-hopes-of-sydney-lockdown-end/embed
"Looking at what we call the epidemic curves, basically unfortunately it looks like it's quite possible numbers overall … will continue to rise possibly until the two-week mark.
"If that happens then it'll be hard to open up immediately after that, it'll have to be a little bit longer.
"So, I I'd like to say 'it's going to end next week' as expected but I am not convinced at this stage unfortunately."
Professor Talley said there are likely still many people in the community who are infectious without knowing.
"There are people who have been asymptomatically infectious and there are people out there who are still unlinked to anyone else, that means there are other people who have been infected who don't know about it," he said.
READ MORE: Lockdown changes after three new COVID-19 cases in Queensland
He said those criticising the lockdown need to be aware that the alternatives are "way worse".
"This virus if you let it go, it would destroy the economy as well as people's lives," Professor Talley said.
"It takes a week or two or three for cases in hospital to start accumulating and for deaths, there's a delay between getting the infection and those outcomes.
"The evidence is very clear, and I think almost every Australian epidemiologist and indeed international expert would agree, lockdowns are very painful and unpleasant and costly but the alternatives are way worse in terms of health outcomes and economic outcomes."
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant refused to comment on the possibility of extending the Sydney lockdown today, but said a downward trend in numbers would need to be seen before restrictions lifted.
"What I can say is that the factors we consider closely is those infectious days in the community," she said.
She praised the community's response to the crisis but said testing numbers would need to stay high for the lockdown to be lifted.
NSW recorded 31 new local cases of COVID-19 today, 13 of which were active in the community.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian expects numbers to increase over the next few days.
"Hopefully early next week we should see the impact of the lockdown really turning and having a positive impact," Ms Berejiklian said.
More than 76,000 people were tested in the latest reporting period.
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