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NSW has reported 1164 new local coronavirus cases on Tuesday, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed two-thirds of the state’s adult population has now received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Premier expressed optimism that the state would hit seven million doses of the vaccine this week, noting she was looking forward to 80 per cent of people in the state having received their first shot.
“I can safely say that we’re looking forward to a better spring than we did winter,” Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian enters the Tuesday briefing with Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant. Credit:Rhett Wyman
There were three deaths recorded since yesterday’s update:
- A woman in her 50s from south-west Sydney who died at Campbelltown Hospital.
- A man in his 80s from central Sydney who died at St Vincent’s Hospital.
- A man in his 90s from south-west Sydney who died at Campbelltown Hospital.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says “concern” remains regarding the spread of COVID-19 in regional NSW, after 58 new cases were recorded across the state’s west.
There were 54 new cases in Western NSW Local Health District, including 32 in Dubbo and eight in Bourke. There were four new cases in the Far West district, all in Wilcannia.
In an interview with ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning, Mr Barilaro said he believed the federal government had stopped paying “attention” to its role of vaccinating vulnerable communities, leading to the outbreak in western NSW.
On Monday, it was announced a man in his 50s with underlying conditions died at Dubbo Hospital, believed to be the first Indigenous person with COVID-19 to die in Australia since the pandemic began.
“Should they have been vaccinated earlier? Yes. It was all part of the federal government’s rollout of the vaccination program at the start of the year. It didn’t occur,” Mr Barilaro said.
“And now we’re really having to go in hard … [and], with Delta, we’re struggling to contain it.”
Up to 871 patients are being treated for COVID-19 in NSW hospitals, with 143 in ICU.
An intensive care nurse manager from the epicentre of Sydney’s outbreak spoke at the NSW press conference this morning, describing how the frontline is relying on the public to get vaccinated.
Michelle Dowd, a staff member at Liverpool Hospital in south-west Sydney, said nurses were under significant physical stress.
“These patients are some of the sickest we’ve ever seen, they require so much support and monitoring and physical care,” she said.“We’re in layers of PPE, sometimes for hours at a time. This is really physically hard work.“
Ms Dowd said there had been resources sharing across the state’s health network for the “busy and stretched” ICUs. “We can share the load to some degrees, but we really need your help to stop the spread and keep people out of hospital and out of intensive care,” she said.
Meanwhile, five men who returned positive test results in regional NSW have been fined after allegedly breaching COVID-19 self-isolation rules and gathering outdoors in south-west Sydney.
Police checking COVID-19 compliance were patrolling in Leppington, in Liverpool local government area of concern, about 11.30am yesterday when they saw five men allegedly sitting at a table on the footpath and not wearing face masks.
Officers stopped and spoke to the men, who revealed they had tested positive to COVID-19 in rural NSW and had been ordered to self-isolate for 14 days after being escorted back to Sydney last Monday (August 23),” NSW Police said in a statement today.
All five men – aged 23, 25, 26, 31 and 32 – were issued $5000 Penalty Infringement Notices for failing to comply with a COVID-19 noticed direction. They were escorted back to the premises to complete their mandatory isolation.
There were 76 new locally acquired cases in Victoria, where health authorities notified the public of an additional 40 exposure venues late last night. Thirty-one of the cases have no known source.
Children who live in regional NSW but attend boarding school in Queensland may be able to return to class as the sunshine state trials a home quarantine system.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told the state’s parliament on Tuesday the trial would begin next week with children allowed to quarantine at home with their families.
with Matt Dennien
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