Coronavirus: NSW death toll climbs, Victoria records 278 new COVID cases
A woman in her 80s is the first NSW death in two weeks while authorities have issued new alerts for two western Sydney venues. Meanwhile New Zealand’s COVID cases have climbed and Victoria has recorded a further eight deaths. FULL DETAILS
NSW
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An elderly woman has become the latest NSW resident to die of coronavirus, the state’s first COVID-19 death in two weeks.
The woman in her 80s died in intensive care on Wednesday after contracting the disease through the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral cluster which was originally linked to Thai Rock Wetherill Park.
Twelve new cases of COVID-19 have also been diagnosed in NSW, including three mystery cases which can’t be linked to existing clusters.
NSW Health on Thursday confirmed that four of the new cases could be linked to known cases, three had an unknown source and five had been found in returned travellers.
The increase in new infections comes just one day after Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the rise in mystery cases was a cause for concern.
A new health alert has been issued for two western Sydney venues after an infected person linked to the western Sydney church cluster visited the premises last week.
Anyone who attended Westfield Liverpool on August 7 between 10.30-11am and 12.30-1pm or Fifth Avenue Beauty Bar in Wetherill Park on August 8 between 2-3pm is considered a “casual contact” and should monitor for symptoms, self-isolate and get tested if they arise.
NEW ZEALAND CASES CLIMB
The number of COVID-19 cases linked to New Zealand’s first detected outbreak in months has surged after health authorities confirmed 14 new cases of the disease.
Thirteen of these cases have been directly linked to the family of four diagnosed on Tuesday and the other was a returned traveller in self-isolation.
The new infections – which are among the first confirmed cases the country has seen in three months – come just after the country returned to lockdown until at least Friday.
Health officials are now investigating whether the infection that sparked the latest outbreak was brought in by imported goods.
EIGHT DEATHS, 278 CASES IN VICTORIA
Eight people have died, and another 278 have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Victoria in the 24 hours to 8pm Wednesday.
The figures reflect the lowest number of daily cases in the state in more than three weeks.
One female in her 50s, two males in their 70s, two females in their 80s, two males in their 80s, and one male in their 90s are the latest to die.
Four of the eight fatalities are connected to aged care outbreaks.
“We send our best wishes and condolences to each of those families,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“There are 664 Victorians in hospital, 37 of which are receiving intensive care and 25 of those 37 are on a ventilator.
“A total of 1,895,566 test results have been received. That’s an increase of 20,951 since yesterday.”
The fall in cases comes almost two weeks after Premier Daniel Andrews introduced Stage Four lockdown measures in a drastic bid to keep people at home.
The strict new measures appear to be slowing the spread of the disease, with the number of infections on a steep decline since last week. This week, 322, 331 and 410 cases respectively have been detected.
POLICE SPAT ON IN ALLEGED COVID BREACH
A man has allegedly spat on multiple officers in Sydney’s CBD after refusing to tell police his name.
The 32-year-old was stopped at Railway Square on the corner of George and Lee Streets on Wednesday night after police were called to a fight at a George St hotel.
The man was arrested but released after providing his identity and issued a move-on direction.
He then refused to leave and was rearrerrested before being taken to Day Street Police Station where he allegedly spat on several officers while in custody.
He was charged with three offences including use offensive language in/near public place/school, refuse/fail to comply with direction under Part 14, and not comply noticed direction re spitting/coughing – COVID-19.
He was refused bail to appear at Central Local Court today.
BORDER CLOSURE LEAVES NEEDY PATIENTS STRANDED
Queensland’s sudden second border shutdown has sparked chaos in the health care sector, as anguished patients in northern NSW are shut-out of operations and specialists consultations.
The closing of the border has left no provision of specialist medical care for hundreds of thousands of people living between the Queensland border and Yamba on the north coast.
Major towns like Lismore, Grafton, Ballina, Byron Bay on the coast and across into regional areas like Casino, Glen Innes, Inverell and Moree have been left with threadbare specialist services.
Specialist doctors from Queensland who have patients and clinics in NSW have had to cancel their regular clinics south of the so-called border “bubble” leaving patients high and dry.
If they travel, they cannot return to Queensland and consult with their patients there, due to the whole of NSW being deemed a hotspot by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk — despite the fact there are no COVID-19 clusters north of Newcastle hundreds of kilometres to the south.
“We can deal with a whole lot of other stuff around the border closure but people accessing medical treatment is a major concern,” Lismore MP Janelle Safin said.
Plastic surgeon Dr Dilip Gahankari, who is based at the Gold Coast’s Pindara Hospital, said two patients were forced to cancel skin cancer surgery yesterday. “My practice manager spent a lot of time trying to get exemptions but was unable to,” he said,
“Queensland Health says it is willing to give exemptions under certain circumstances but it seems that it’s only when someone has to attend a terminally-ill patient.”
Practice managers and technicians in NSW who work in Queensland practices, surgery rooms and dental clinics — and those from Queensland working in NSW — cannot get to work.
Others are awaiting government exemptions that can take up to 10 days.
The advice from Queensland Health is that those booked for surgery or consultations have to undergo the mandatory 14 days quarantine — at their own expense.
Late yesterday, Northern NSW Local Health issued a statement saying it had been informed that the Queensland Government was establishing a border pass “for NSW residents needing to access specialist health services in Queensland for day or overnight appointments”.
In a statement Queensland Health said: “NSW residents outside the dedicated border zone coming to Queensland for specialist medical care do not require an exemption but they must have a border pass and written support from their treating facility.”
But to date, this has not been the experience of most people trying to see their specialists.
MIRACLE CURE BEING LOOKED INTO
A prominent Sydney doctor’s call for an anti-COVID treatment using a triple combination of drugs — including lice treatment “wonder drug” ivermectin — is being considered by the Federal Government.
Centre for Digestive Diseases Professor Thomas Borody, who helped discover the cure for peptic ulcers, is pushing for Australian medical authorities to take notice of the low-cost treatment, which is being adopted overseas.
A triple combination drug, which would also include zinc and a common antibiotic, could help stop the coronavirus in its tracks, if taken early enough, he says.
He wrote to Health Minister Greg Hunt about the combination and a spokesman on Wednesday said the government had already given $344,450 to a team at Melbourne’s Monash University, to investigate the use of the anti-parasite drug ivermectin.
“The Department of Health is monitoring this research closely,” he said.
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