Walgett Shire in NSW's far north north is set to go into lockdown as early as 7pm on Wednesday.
The decision comes after a positive case was detected in the area.
More than a dozen close contacts of that case have been identified.
More to come
NSW Covid Updates: 344 new cases, two deaths
Two men, one aged in his 30s and one in his 90s, have died from Covid as NSW recorded 344 new cases. Read Wednesday's Covid blog.
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Two men, one aged in his 30s and one in his 90s, have died after contracting Covid as NSW recorded 344 new cases.
The elderly man was unvaccinated while the younger man from Sydney's north had "significant" underlying health conditions. Both men died in hospital.
Sixty-two people remain in the ICU battling the virus including three people in their 20s and seven in their 30s. No one currently in intensive care has received two doses of the vaccine.
NSW recorded 344 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 11, 2021
Of these locally acquired cases, 115 are linked to a known case or cluster – 97 household contacts & 18 are close contacts – & the source of infection for 229 cases is under investigation pic.twitter.com/OQC5fstf5Q
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Wednesday that at least 65 of today's cases were in the community for all or most of their infectious period.
Cases are slowly declining in the Fairfield and Canterbury-Bankstown LGAs however infections are rising in surrounding suburbs of Bayside, Burwood and in the Inner West.
There were no extra cases recorded in Armidale, Tamworth or the Northern Rivers. There were 14 new cases in the Hunter with the premier flagging the region's one-week lockdown is likely to be extended.
Two cases were detected in Dubbo in the same household overnight prompting a snap lockdown from 1pm today. The stay at home order also includes Wellington, Wongarbon, Geurie, Brocklehurst, Stuart Town, Mumbil and Eumungerie.
Read our Wednesday morning updates below.
Updates
Lockdown in rural Walgett Shire imminent
St Marys aged care home goes into lockdown
A nurse at SummitCare St Marys has tested COVID positive, sending an aged care centre into lockdown.
“SummitCare St Marys has confirmed that a fully vaccinated nurse, who worked at the facility last Saturday and was COVID negative at the time, has tested positive overnight,” said a spokesperson for SummitCare.
SummitCare is confident that the virus hasn’t entered their St Marys centre, the spokesman said.
To read more on this story, click here.
School shuts as student tests positive for Covid
A northern beaches primary school has sent children home after it was advised that a student tested positive for Covid.
Wheeler Heights Public School asked for parents to collect children early on Wednesday after staff were contacted by NSW Department of Education to say a student was a confirmed Covid case.
Principal Simone Rizzuto said in a Facebook post about 2.15pm that the “school site will be non-operational effective immediately”.
She said the school needed to be cleared to allow time for contact tracing and cleaning.
To read more on this story, click here.
PM tackles Covid conspiracy theories
"Crazy" Covid-19 conspiracy theories have "no place" in Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said, as he vowed to take steps to deal with "misinformation" peddled by Qanon.
Mr Morrison said his government would have "no association" with the views pushed by the conspiracy theorist, and was seeking to do "everything we can" to counter false information circulating during the pandemic.
"I've been pleased to be engaging with the ethnic community leaders, multicultural committee leaders especially in NSW," he said.
"I thank those faith leaders across NSW, especially south-western Sydney, who have been countering the misinformation that has been occurring in their communities, especially thank those of the Pacific community in this country, and the faith leaders of their communities telling their congregations how important it is to get the vaccine."
Mr Morrison said Australia was also working with countries in the region, including Papua New Guinea, to ensure citizens did not listen to conspiracy theories preventing them from getting a Covid-19 vaccines.
"Countering misinformation is a task for all of us, and a task for the government, and one we are acting on," he said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said his department also ran a "myth busting" public information campaign.
"We work … with communities across the country," he said.
Mr Hunt said the materials countering "medical misinformation" were distributed in "multiple languages" .
Man who travelled to Byron Bay charged
A Sydney man who travelled to Byron Bay while infected with Covid, sending the Northern Rivers into lockdown for a week, has been charged today.
Police revealed Zoran Radovanovic, 52, of Rose Bay, would be charged today after he allegedly travelled from Sydney to Byron Bay and the surrounding area, without a reasonable excuse and in contravention of the public health orders.
Mr Radovanovic will be served a Future Court Attendance Notice with strict bail conditions at Lismore Base Hospital, where he is currently being treated for Covid.
He will appear at Lismore Local Court on Monday 13 September 2021.
Inquiries are ongoing.
Northwest Sydney high school shuts
Ryde Secondary College has been shut halfway through the school day after a school community member tested positive for Covid-19.
A note from school principal Cassy Norris to parents and families revealed the campus would shut "effective immediately" for cleaning and contact tracing.
"The NSW Department of Education has been advised by NSW Health that a member of the school community has tested positive for COVID-19," Ms Norris wrote.
"Our school site will be non-operational effective immediately for the on-site attendance of staff and students to allow time for contact tracing and cleaning… all staff and students are asked to self-isolate until you receive further advice."
A similar statement from the Department of Education echoed Ms Norris' comments, asking staff and students to isolate immediately.
"NSW Health has requested anyone who has been unwell or if you develop any symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting or extreme tiredness to be tested at one of the COVID-19 testing clinics," the department's statement read.
Heckler disrupts VIC Covid update
A heckler has caused chaos at Victoria's Covid update today, yelling over the top of the Premier for upwards of 20 minutes as he tried to give reporters the latest on the Delta outbreak.
Yelling "Premier Daniel Andrews", the man was tackled to the ground by police near the press conference as he continued to disrupt the press conference, even earning an address from Daniel Andrews himself.
"No one else can hear me because of the amazing contribution you're making up there," Mr Andrews said as the man continued to yell.
"We'll keep you safe too."
He added:
"If you support me or not, I will do everything I can to protect you from this virus. Shouting does not work against the virus… if frustration and anger was effective against coronavirus, we'd all be double dosed by now.
"People are entitled to your views that's fine, but we will do everything we can to keep you safe."
VIC's Covid update
Of the latest 20 cases in Victoria:
• Six are linked to Al-Taqwa College
• Five are linked to Mount Alexander College
• Four are linked to Caroline Springs Square Shopping Centre
• Five are not currently linked but include three from a family in Melton, while the other two are a father and son from the City of Melbourne.
Melbourne lockdown extended
Melbourne’s lockdown has been extended for a further seven days until 11.59pm on Thursday, August 19.
The announcement comes after Victoria recorded 20 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced the extension at VIC's Covid update press conference, declaring the move was to stop Melbourne ending up like Sydney.
Due to the current level of community transmission of coronavirus in Victoria from the recent NSW incursions, the CHO has declared that the current lockdown across Melbourne will be extended until at least 11.59pm 19 Aug, to stamp out this Delta variant and keep Victorians safe. pic.twitter.com/KWzMWWK3ZT
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 11, 2021
"We have determined to accept the advice of the chief health officer to extend for a further period of seven days, until 11.59pm next Thursday," Mr Andrews said
“This is very challenging, I know, for every single Victorian who would like to be going about their business."
He added: “They’d like to be open and have a degree of freedom that’s simply not possible because of this Delta variant, the extreme infectivity of this virus and the fact that within a very short space of time we were to open, then we would see cases akin to what’s happening, tragically, in Sydney right now.”
Georges River could escape hard restrictions
One of the nine Greater Sydney LGAs under the state's harshest restrictions is on the cusp of being set free.
Gladys Berejiklian revealed health officials were discussing removing the Georges River LGA from the list of areas of concern, but said a recent "uptick" in cases had stayed her hand for now.
"Unfortunately half of Georges River is doing well but the other half has seen an uptick in the last few days in cases," the Premier said.
"While we were feeling confident about taking Georges River out, at this stage is the health advice is we have to stabilise further before that's considered."
She added residents in the Bayside, Inner West and Burwood should stay alert due to a rise in cases there, warning they could soon be added to the list of hotspot LGAs.
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