Bill Gates praises the 'Aussie response' to pandemics as he becomes the focus of Covid conspiracy theories 

• US billionaire was full of praise of Australia for its response to Covid pandemic
• Says other countries wouldn't call next outbreak a pandemic if followed suit
• Bill Gates continues to be smashed by bizarre claims by anti-Covid conspiracists
• Praise for Australia comes as several states eased a host of Covid-19 restrictions 

Australia's response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been hailed as 'gold standard' by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

The US billionaire who has dedicated billions of dollars to vaccine research, has been warning for months of a new pandemic looming on the horizon.

He warned the annual Munich Security Conference last week a new outbreak in the future would likely require much stricter policies in its early days than how most of the world enacted against Covid.

'If every country does what Australia did, then you wouldn't be calling (the next outbreak) a pandemic,' Mr Gates said.

The bold call comes as he continues to be smashed by anti-Covid conspiracists and their bizarre claims.

The billionaire recently told Reuters he was surprised by the number of ‘crazy’ and ‘evil’ conspiracy theories made up about him which have flooded social media since the pandemic began in early 2020.

The wild theories involving Gates, whose foundation has donated over a billion to coronavirus vaccine and treatment research, include unfounded claims he developed COVID-19 in a lab and wants to use the vaccine to implant microchip tracking devices into billions of people.

The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist acknowledged he had been the subject of millions of online posts and ‘crazy conspiracy theories’, and insists he would like to get to the bottom of what’s behind them.

Another leading public figure in the fight against the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has also become a target of several conspiracies, including claims he created the virus and is now blocking natural cures for it.

‘Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr. Fauci would be so prominent in these really evil theories,’ Gates told Reuters Wednesday.

‘I’m very surprised by that. I hope it goes away. 

Meanwhile, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet believes the removal of masks in his state and others will help spur economic activity and job creation in Australia's cities.

Covid mask mandates were lifted and dance floors reopened across the eastern states from Friday, although face coverings are still required in NSW, Victoria and the ACT in high-risk settings such as public transport, aged care facilities, airports and hospitals.

'We've seen a strong return to activity in the city and that's incredibly important because when Sydney goes well, the state and the country goes well off the back of it,' Mr Perrottet told reporters on Sunday.

'With face masks being removed for the office, I think we will see a lot more people return to the city tomorrow ... as people return to work, that's incredibly important and that will spur economic activity and jobs in our cities.'

There are exceptions for some school students in Victoria and the ACT, who will still have to keep their masks on for now, while Queensland will ease mask rules and density limits this week.

Mandates remain in Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

However, the impact - if any - of these eased restrictions are yet to be reflected in the daily infection counts.

NSW added 6014 new infections to its caseload on Sunday and recorded a further seven deaths.

Victoria recorded another 5052 infections and 17 deaths, while in the ACT there were 495 cases.

In Queensland there were 3571 cases and one death, in SA 1476 infections and two deaths.

Tasmania recorded 676 cases, the NT 368 and WA 1027.