A Bankstown swim school, North Strathfield Fitness First and Dover Heights cafe are among the latest Covid alerts issued by NSW Health on Thursday night.
Anyone who visited Bankstown’s Bluey’s Swim School on June 26 or Nieo’s Grille Earlwood on June 25 is urged to get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.
See the full list
NSW Covid updates: 24 new cases as new mass vaccination hubs announced
A second nurse at an aged care facility in the Hills has contracted Covid-19. It comes as the Premier issued a stark warning after NSW recorded 24 new Covid cases. Read our Thursday blog.
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NSW has recorded 24 locally acquired cases overnight as the state's largest outbreak continues to grow.
Twelve of the new cases were working in the community while symptomatic, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said, warning "that needs to stop".
"The purpose of a lockdown is to stop community transmission, and that won't happen unless people stop interacting with one another, especially if they have symptoms,” she said.
Of the 24 local cases, 17 were linked to previously confirmed cases. Nine were in isolation throughout their infectious periods and three were in isolation for part of their infectious periods.
The source of seven infections remain under investigation.
One of today’s new cases included a student nurse, announced yesterday, who worked at Fairfield Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital while infectious from the June 24-28.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said one of her household contacts and a friend who was a healthcare worker had since tested positive.
An aged care worker at Summit Care in Baulkham Hills had also tested positive but 135 out of the 149 residents at the impacted facility were vaccinated.
Ms Berejiklian also announced the NSW Government will open two new mass vaccination centres in Wollongong, and iin Macquarie Fields in south-west Sydney.
In addition, a Sydney City vaccination hub site has been secured, close to light and heavy rail lines, that will serve city workers and residents through extended opening hours.
There have been 195 locally acquired cases reported since 16 June 2021 when the first case of the Bondi cluster, a driver who transported international flight crew, was reported.
There were 59,941 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 68,220.
Of today's new cases, two were linked to the West Hoxton party, one to the Crossways Hotel, one to Joh Bailey Double Bay and one to Lyfe Café Bondi Beach.
Scroll down for the latest updates
NSW recorded 24 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, of which 17 are linked to previously confirmed cases.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 1, 2021
Four new overseas-acquired cases were recorded in the same period- pic.twitter.com/5bcw8QBoy3
Updates
Second aged care nurse tests positive
A second nurse at Baulkham Hill’s SummitCare aged care facility has tested positive to Covid-19.
The second case is a flat mate of the first case and both nurses worked the same shift together.
The two new cases are also understood to be friends of the trainee nurse who tested positive at Royal North Shore Hospital.
SummitCare confirmed they have so far received 88 negative tests among residents.
– Angira Bharadwaj
Staggering cost of NSW lockdown
Sydney’s two-week lockdown is set to deliver a cruel blow to casual workers with in excess of $100m in lost income, new research has revealed.
Sydney’s struggling casual work force is comprised of 466,500 people, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, who earn an average weekly wage of $609.
During Sydney’s 14-day lockdown – a response to the Covid-19 outbreak which has grown to 195 cases since June 16 – a casual employee unable to work stands to lose $1218 in income.
If 20 per cent of casual staff were unable to work through the lockdown – the same percentage of casual workers who lost their jobs between February and May last year – the wage loss would total $114m.
-By Evin Priest
Covid-19 returns to northern beaches
A shopper who was at a northern beaches supermarket last weekend and a visitor to a large hotel in Manly have tested positive for Covid-19.
NSW Health has issued advice notices to people who were at the Woolworths supermarket in Avalon Beach last Saturday to get tested. They have also alerted those who were at the Novotel Hotel in Manly on Saturday.
Visitors to the supermarket and the hotel are listed as casual contacts and must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
Vaccine age breakdown revealed
Australians in their 60s have been more likely to rush and get a first dose than those in their 50s, with new data also showing 1.63 million people in total have been fully vaccinated with two doses.
The age groups with the highest vaccination rates were the over 70s, with more than two thirds having a first dose, according to an age breakdown of Australians who have been vaccinated as of June 30. The data also revealed older men over 70 were slightly more likely to get the vaccine than women, but from the 40 to 64 age group there have been more women signing up for the jab.
About 38.4 per cent of people over 95 have had two jabs and are fully protected.
A further 12.1 per cent, or 133,361 people aged 70 to 74 and 13.6 per cent, or 105,557 people aged 75 to 79 have also been fully vaccinated.
So far 34.3 per cent of people aged 50 to 54, and 38.5 per cent of those aged 55 to 59 have had their first vaccine, well behind the 48.5 per cent of people aged 60 to 64 and 56.3 per cent of people aged 65 to 69 who have received the jab.
Australians in their 50s and 60s both became eligible for the vaccine at the same time, with 50s initially offered the AstraZeneca option, and then as of mid-June offered the Pfizer one.
More than 789,000 Australians in their 40s have had their first dose, of which about 379,000 have had their second vaccine.
– By Clare Armstrong
Anna caught out in whopping anti-vax lies
Annastacia Palaszczuk has been caught out telling whoppers about the AstraZeneca jab, as Queensland health authorities come under increasing criticism for undermining efforts to vaccinate the nation against Covid-19.
On Wednesday the Queensland premier attacked moves to open up AstraZeneca supplies to anyone over 18, so long as they consulted with their GP about the incredibly tiny risk of blood clots that go along with the jab.
“The guidelines we’re following from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) and the Australian Medical Association are clear,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “Even the UK Government won’t allow their under-40s to get the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
However this was news to under-40s living in Britain, where in fact as in NSW, they are also allowed access to the Astra-Zeneca vaccine in consultation with their doctor.
Read the full story here
– By James Morrow
Confusion over who classifies as ‘essential worker’
Unclear guidelines over what professions count as “essential workers” have left NSW residents confused.
It comes as calls to better define “essential goods” have also escalated after small retailers asked for clarity on their ability to operate.
Covid-19 guidelines from NSW Health do not provide a clear list of who is an essential worker but describe it as any work or study that cannot be done from home.
Cop fined for not wearing a mask
A NSW Police superintendent has been fined for breaching a public health order on Wednesday.
Police said the superintendent, 53, was not wearing a face mask while inside a fast food outlet in Mount Colah and was subsequently fined $200.
Sixty-five infringements were issued on Wednesday, 52 of which were for failing to wear a face mask.
Five new AstraZeneca blood clot cases
Five new cases of blood clots have been linked to the Astrazeneca vaccine, bringing the nation’s total to 69 cases out of 4.8 million doses.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has reported on Thursday that two cases are “definitely” linked to the vaccine, involving a 52-year-old woman from WA and a 59-year-old woman from Victoria.
A 64-year-old woman and two men, aged 77 and 83, from NSW are “probably” linked, the TGA said.
NSW Health issues new Covid alerts
A Bondi McDonalds, Sydney Woolworths stores and multiple Burwood shops are among dozens of new venues issued Covid alerts on Thursday afternoon.
NSW Health also updated it’s advice for anyone who attended Club Marconi at Bossley Park on June 25.
See the full list of alerts
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