The vice-president of the Australian Medical Association has hit out at New South Wales, accusing the state’s authorities of having “relegated” health advice to “second place”.

Chris Moy’s comments come as NSW enters its second day of relaxed restrictions and other states including South Australia look at pathways to reopening their borders.

Dr Moy, who is based in Adelaide, said efforts to reduce COVID-19 case numbers in NSW had so far proven effective, but questioned the speed with which the state was reopening.

“While you look at their vaccination efforts in New South Wales and the great effect that that’s had, that’s still in the context of lockdowns,” Dr Moy told ABC Radio Adelaide.

“They’ve got this freedom day, we don’t know what effect that’s going to have.

Dr Moy compared the situation to that in his home state, where the implications of new outbreaks are significantly different, given SA’s low case numbers.

Yesterday, SA’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier again warned of the risk to SA posed by individual cases, after a fly-in fly-out mine worker in her 30s who arrived at Adelaide Airport from Melbourne tested positive.

“We do get an indication when we look at the result at how infectious somebody is, and this person is clearly very infectious,” Professor Spurrier said.

There has also been protracted discussion within SA in recent days about what quarantine requirements for interstate travellers would remain in place by Christmas, with the state’s top health bureaucrat appearing to contradict the expectations of the Premier.

Amid federal pressure to reopen internal and international borders by Christmas, Dr Moy said what was in the interest of some states was likely to be detrimental to others.

“The issue with New South Wales is that politically but also psychologically but also practically, they’re coming from a half-full-type situation. They’ve got lots of cases, it’s a bonus in terms of relaxation,” he said.

“Here we’ve got a different context. We’re coming from no cases, we’ve actually had freedom.”

With South Australians due to go to the ballot box in March, Dr Moy warned of potential political fallout from any premature easing of restrictions that would result in a surge in coronavirus cases.

“One of the defining features of South Australia is how depoliticised it’s been.

“We’ve actually had a premier and a government who have actually been brave enough to hand the job to the experts.

“The transition committee headed by the health advice but also the pragmatism of the police commissioner … that combination has been really critical in terms of getting the right balance in the decision making.”

The ABC has contacted the NSW government for comment.

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