Why Dr Kerry Chant was not at Thursday morning's press conference

New South Wales Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant has been a familiar face at daily COVID-19 briefings throughout the pandemic but was noticeably absent on Thursday morning.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced a raft of changes to the state's roadmap at 9am, rather than 11am, and the CHO was not there.

Questions have now been raised about whether these additional freedoms were fully backed by the health advice, which former premier Gladys Berejiklian based her pandemic response on.

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"I have confirmed with multiple sources who are aware of the discussions last night with Dr Chant, that she did not fully endorse this new roadmap," 9News political reporter Chris O'Keefe said.

"The Chief Health Officer warned the new premier all of these changes come with risk, but changing a roadmap that was only nine days old was ultimately a matter for the government."

The CHO's role is to give the government advice and does not necessarily endorse their final decisions.

"Make no mistake, relaxing restrictions further is Dominic Perrottet putting his stamp on how we exit lockdown," O'Keefe said.

"That is his prerogative, he is elected to make decisions after taking on advice from business, Kerry Chant, and the community."

Earlier, O'Keefe described the decision not to include Dr Chant at the press conference as a political one, and was the premier trying to move the pandemic on from being a health issue.

"He said it himself, that he wants to move it towards being about economic recovery and that is why Dr Kerry Chant wasn't there today," he said, on Thursday.

The premier was asked on Thursday morning about why Dr Chant was not there, and whether she had approved the changes to the roadmap announced today.

"I met yesterday for some time with Dr Chant and with (Health) Minister (Brad) Hazzard," Mr Perrottet said.

He said they discussed "a range of issues" and the conversation was "constructive" and "productive".

When asked if it was disrespectful not to include Dr Chant in the press conference, Mr Perrottet said: "Dr Chant is one of my favourite constituents in Epping".

"We always had a great relationship."

But Mr Perrottet described the pandemic as "an economic crisis" and not only a health crisis, signalling a shift in the way the pandemic will be managed.