A leading Australian doctor has called for COVID-19 restrictions to urgently be enforced in New South Wales in response to the Omicron outbreak.
President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, has taken to Twitter to call on the NSW Premier to reimpose a mask mandate and social distancing measures in the state to stop the spread of the Omicron variant.
Dr Korshi has warned, "the pandemic is far from over" and that the new variant will put strain on the healthcare system.
READ MORE: 'High alert' as NSW watches for Omicron's impact on hospitals after new daily COVID-19 record
https://twitter.com/amapresident/status/1472030064397090818"Even IF Omicron turns out to be mild in vaccinated people, an explosion of cases will have a devastating effect on healthcare- GPs looking after community cases, furloughing of exposed workers and of course the unknown proportion who will need to be treated in hospital," he posted on Twitter.
"Masks and social distancing measures to slow the spread urgently needed in NSW.
"Living with COVID doesn't mean letting it rip. Caution now so much better than regrets later…. The pandemic is far from over - just look at the rest of the world."
READ MORE: Calls for more COVID-19 restrictions as Omicron variant cases skyrocket
Dr Korshi tagged NSW Premier Dominic Perrott in the post.
He further urged Australians to work to protect themselves against the virus regardless of governments having eased COVID-19 restrictions.
"And if governments won't act- people can! Wear a mask when out and about, avoid mass gatherings and get your booster as soon as you can access one.
"Get tested if exposed or symptomatic. The lessons of the last two years haven't changed just because we're living with COVID…"
Dr Korshi's calls came just after NSW recorded 2482 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, marking the third day in a row of new record daily levels.
The record was broken again today, with 2566 positive cases of COVID-19 discovered in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
