Gladys Berejiklian grilled over West Hoxton superspreader party

The NSW Premier has defended her government’s speed in locking down the state after questions emerged over health advice related to a superspreader party at the beginning of the latest outbreak.

Greater Sydney went into lockdown on June 26, the day after the city’s eastern and central parts were shut down.

Those decisions came more than a week after the outbreak first began, on June 16.

Gladys Berejiklian has maintained she took swift action based on health advice, but new information provided to a parliamentary committee has thrown that claim into question.

The reply from NSW Health to questions on notice from the Public Accountability Committee revealed it knew on June 24 that it had failed to contain the spread resulting from a birthday party in West Hoxton in the city’s west.

That means two days passed between Health’s realisation and the lockdown of Sydney’s west.

Ms Berejiklian was asked on Monday how quickly her government locked the state down after the party began setting off “alarm bells”.

“We reacted within hours,” she said.

“We react to the health advice as soon as we receive it.”

Several reporters fired off questions about the lockdown decision and Ms Berejiklian responded by defending her health team.

“(You can) criticise government, but our public health officials are the best in the land,” she said.

The June 24 realisation was five days after the event took place and three days after the department had first began tracing people who were there.

“On 21 June, 2021, NSW Health conducted an interview with a COVID-19 case who reported (sic) attended a party at a residence in West Hoxton on June 19, 2021,” the department said in its reply to the parliament.

“The public health unit rapidly managed the exposure risk by placing all known attendees into self-isolation; however, NSW Health was later notified of additional attendees on June 24, 2021. These contacts were also rapidly placed in self-isolation.“

Chief health officer Kerry Chant has previously said her team underestimated the spread from the West Hoxton party.

She told the same parliamentary committee last month that “with the benefit of hindsight” it would have been better to lockdown sooner.

“With the benefit of hindsight, I think it’s easy to say there was a greater risk of a seeding event in southwestern Sydney than was appreciated at the time it emerged,” she said.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said the party was the single event that put the city on a path to locking down.