Two men, both aged in their 90s, have died from Covid as NSW recorded 345 new cases and three more LGAs prepare to be placed under stricter rules. Read our Covid blog.
Two men have died from Covid overnight as NSW recorded 345 new cases on a record day of testing where almost 152,000 people swabbed for the virus.
One of the men, aged in his 90s from Sydney's southwest, died at Liverpool Hospital. The second man, also aged in his 90s, died at Royal North Shore Hospital and was an aged care resident at the Wyoming residential facility in Summer Hill.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said both men had "some level of vaccination." One of the men had received two doses of Pfizer and one had received the first AstraZeneca jab.
At least 60 of the new cases were infectious in the community.
NSW recorded 345 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Of these locally acquired cases, 128 are linked to a known case or cluster – 101 household contacts & 27 close contacts – & the source of infection for 217 cases is under investigation. pic.twitter.com/aphtK5nZfO
Three more LGAs, Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood, will be added to the growing list of high-risk Sydney areas under harsh lockdown rules from 5pm tonight.
Residents who live in the Bayside suburbs of Bexley, Banksia and Rockdale and those in the Inner West and Camden are urged to remain vigilant for symptoms and get tested.
There were no cases reported in Armidale, Tamworth or the Northern Rivers however five cases were detected in Dubbo.
In the Hunter and Upper Hunter, lockdown will be extended by another week.
Canberra has entered a seven-day lockdown after four cases of Covid-19 were detected in the territory.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the lockdown was triggered by a positive case who was infectious in the community, as well as positive wastewater detections. The source of the infection is still unknown.
The ACT is now in a seven-day lockdown.
Later in the afternoon, chief health officer Kerryn Coleman told ABC Radio Canberra there had been three additional local cases.
All of them were close contacts of the first case.
“These were people who had prolonged and repeated exposure to our case,” she said.
The first confirmed case was a man in his 20s, living in Gungahlin. He was thought to have been infectious in the community since Sunday.
“This decision is the result of a positive case in the territory, a case who has been infectious in the community. We also have positive wastewater detections around the ACT,” Mr Barr said.
“We do not currently know the source of the infection, but extensive investigation has been underway for many hours. This is the most serious public health risk that we have faced in the territory this year – really, since the beginning of the pandemic.”
NSW Health on Thursday afternoon issued an alert for more than a dozen new exposure sites in Lake Macquarie, Dubbo and Sydney, including several bus routes.
Anyone who attended the following venues at the times listed is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days since they were there, regardless of the result.
Glendale: Boho Black cafe, 387 Lake Rd, Tuesday, August 3 from 9am to 9.30pm
Charlestown: Super Vape Store, 260 Charlestown Rd, Thursday, August 5 from 3pm to 3.30pm
Dubbo: Tim Koertz Pharmacy, 98 Tamworth St, Monday, August 9 from 1pm to 1.15pm
Dubbo: Covid Safe Clinic, 77 Myall St, Tuesday, August 10 from 7.45am to 8.35am
A Covid cluster has broken out in a Sydney school for autistic children, causing outrage in advocates and parents attempting to deal with the situation.
Reports suggest more than 12 students and some staff from Giant Steps in Gladesville have tested positive for Covid.
Giant Steps School at Gladesville.
Autism Awareness Australia chief executive Nicole Rogerson said she spent the afternoon on the phone to parents who were “devastated”.
“A lot of these children, a lot of the students, wouldn’t understand what the Covid is, pandemic is, or social distancing.”
Australia has recorded 11 more cases of severe blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
There were two confirmed cases in a 22-year-old woman from Victoria and an 82-year-old man from WA.
The remainder of cases were considered probable and were in 61, 77, 84 and 85-year-old women from NSW, two 73-year-old men from NSW, 60 and 78-year-old men from NSW and a 70-year-old man from Victoria.
This takes the total Australian reports assessed as Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following the AstraZeneca vaccine to 104 cases (59 confirmed, 45 probable) from nearly 7.4 million vaccine doses.
The ACT lockdown which will begin at 5pm today was triggered by a man in his 20s who lives in northern Canberra surburb of Gungahlin who tested positive.
Contract tracing is underway and the ACT government has released an initial list of venue alerts.
ACT Health has also declared that people cannot enter the ACT without an exemption unless they live in the followingg postcodes:
Meanwhile, about 40 staff at Tomago Aluminium Smelter are in isolation, as Covid threatens to slow production at what is the nation’s largest aluminium smelter.
Some of the staff are understood to be August 1 close contacts of the Sydneysiders who travelled to the Hunter, potentially sparking the region’s outbreak.
The smelter employs about 1100 people around the clock and the number of workers in isolation is expected to grow.
It comes as Business Hunter CEO, Bob Hawes urged State Government agencies to increase the region’s compliance enforcement presence and offer more Hunter-specific health information and lockdown rules as the Hunter lockdown extends by another week.
To read more on Covid in the Hunter region, click here.
Forster put on alert with infected isolating Covid case
A positive Covid-19 case has been confirmed in the Mid North Coast holiday town of Forster, the area’s MP has revealed.
Myall Lakes MP Stephen Bromhead confirmed he had been advised of a new Covid-case by Hunter New England Health District shortly after midday Thursday, linked to the Newcastle outbreak.
“I have been advised by the Local Health District that there is a positive Covid-19 case in Forster,” Mr Bromhead announced in a Facebook post.
“The person acquired Covid in Newcastle and has been isolating at home in Forster.
“There is no evidence of community transmission at this stage but the case is being closely monitored.”
It’s the latest instance of Covid spreading further into the bush, after confirmed cases popped up in Walgett, Dubbo and across the Hunter in recent days.
More than 4000 desperately-needed Covid jabs will be urgently redirected to the vulnerable western NSW town of Walgett, after a positive case in the largely-Indigenous community triggered a snap lockdown across seven council areas on Wednesday.
Barwon MP Roy Butler said Western NSW Local Health District had sourced 1200 Pfizer doses for the town, with another 3000 set to be supplied by the state government, with plans for a mass vaccination hub in the town by Friday.
He said boosting immunization in Walgett was crucial given the town’s relative lack of vaccination and high Indigenous population.
“When you look at the LGAs of Brewarrina, Bourke and Walgett, there’s a lot of mobility between those communities… ‘Bree’ has a high rate of vaccination, but Walgett has low rates,” he said.
Mr Butler said getting jab rates up was additional critical given the lack of health infrastructure in the state’s west.
His electorate of Barwon, which covers roughly 44 per cent of NSW, doesn’t have a single base hospital, with health services largely focused in Dubbo and Orange.
“Which is why I’ve always worried about the virus coming to these small regional communities,” Mr Butler said.
“A good proportion of Walgett is Aboriginal people with higher levels of co-morbidities and health issues…in Barwon there’s no base hospitals…and a lack of comprehensive medical services.”
Fellow Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Phil Donato said there was “concerns and anxieties” within his electorate of Orange.
“You only need to go 100km west of Orange or Dubbo and you start getting into marginalized areas where they don’t have the capacity (for a surge in ICU cases),” he said.
“If there was to be a surge in numbers, it would leave it to bigger centres like Orange and Dubbo to meet the ICU capacity, so there is concern in the community.”
Canberra is set to enter a seven-day lockdown after a positive case of Covid-19 was detected in the territory, Chief Minister Andrew Barr has confirmed.
In a statement, Mr Barr said the lockdown was triggered by a positive case who was infectious in the community and positive wastewater detections. The source of the infection is still unknown.
Two women who flew from Sydney to Melbourne without the right permits have tested positive for Covid-19.
Flying in on August 9, the women caught Qantas flight QF471 from Sydney to Melbourne, which is now aTier 1 exposure site, with 46 travellers onboard affected.
The pair were taken to hotel quarantine from the airport where they tested positive. Covid testing chief Jeroen Weimar said the Covid situation in Sydney meant tough restrictions had to stay in place. “They did not have the right permit with them. No permit would have been issued. It was a restricted zone,” Mr Weimar said.
“This is the risk of interstate travel at this point in time.
“This is why we are putting such significant barriers in place to limit all unnecessary travel between our states at this most critical time.”
Covid cases are on the rise in NSW, and the true toll of the virus this year has been revealed, with almost 4000 Australians dying from the virus in 2023.
