The Newcastle Herald reported on Sunday that Bathers Way, the city's coastal walking path, was busy with crowds of people.

Sydney's Waverley Council closed the Bronte coastal walk on Saturday after people flouted social distancing guidelines on the track on Easter Friday. But Mr Bath said on Monday that walkers on Bathers Way appeared to be following the rules.

"To date the police have indicated that people are overwhelmingly practising social distancing as they exercise," Mr Bath said.

"If that changes, they will undoubtedly let us know through our daily discussions."

Photographs taken at Bathers Way on Monday afternoon showed strollers maintaining a respectable distance, but images taken on Sunday of the crowded path drew an angry response from Facebook users.

"I stayed at home today by myself and missed seeing my kids, my grandkids including a three week old babies first Easter. This makes me so angry," one said.

"What part of 'STAY AT HOME' do people not understand. Stay home to protect your family and friends, the elderly, those with an immune deficiency and the healthcare workers caring for those who are seriously ill with Covid-19. If there has ever been a time for people to think of others and not themselves then it is right now," another fumed.

Newcastle Police Chief Inspector Paul Johnson said he had patrolled Bathers Way on Monday and most people had been walking alone or in groups of two.

But some had been "hanging around" the "attraction of the coffee shop and the bottleneck" at Merewether.

"We're all entitled to do some exercise, and I'd suggest in general terms that's what 99 per cent of people were doing," he said.

"The problem is today the surf is good. People like to ... stop and watch board riders."

The nation's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, said on radio on Monday morning that social distancing could be relaxed within weeks.

He expected the national cabinet to announce changes to social distancing measures at the end of April after a rapid deceleration in the transmission of the virus.

"The scale of measures at the moment is something we clearly do have to review," he told ABC Radio National.

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