NSW Covid updates: Record 830 cases as vaccination increases

NSW has recorded 830 new local Covid-19 cases — topping Saturday’s record high of 825. There were also three new deaths. It comes as the state’s vaccination rates was described as “extraordinary”.

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NSW has recorded a grim new record in daily case numbers, reporting 830 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

There were three additional deaths reported, taking the toll of the Delta outbreak to 71.

There are 557 Covid cases in hospital with 97 intensive care.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard delivering Sunday’s Covid update. Picture: Dylan Coker

The three people who died include a man in his 60s from Sydney’s southwest who died at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He caught the disease while at Canterbury Hospital.

A woman in her 80s died a Wollongong Hospital while a man in his 70s from Sydney’s southeast died at St George Hospital where he acquired his infection.

There were just over 206,000 tests reported in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said this included a “backlog” of tests.

NSW Health administered almost 45,000 vaccine doses on Saturday, as vaccination rates continue to climb.

Fifty-eight per cent of NSW residents have had their first dose, and 31 per cent have had two doses.

Masked pedestrians, cyclists and delivery riders scattered across a quiet treet in Sydney. Picture: Dylan Coker

Mr Hazzard described vaccination rates in NSW as “quite extraordinary”.

“I thank residents in for coming out in such great numbers to be vaccinated,” he said.

“I am advised that in fact, NSW is now among the highest, if not the highest, in the world in terms of vaccination rates.”

“Please go and get vaccinated. We want to drive our vaccination rates up more quickly, even though we may well be the fastest in the world at the present time, New South Wales can still do better. It gets us that much closer to coming back to what is a much more normal life.”

Police ‘in front’ of protests

NSW Police Force Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said authorities will continue to snuff out anti-lockdown protests.

“Nothing surprises us about what these sorts of people may be planning and we are well in front of it,” he said.

“New South Wales Police Force will put together a policing response to whatever is required and I guess if you look at yesterday, that was a very successful operation in terms of policing but in terms of keeping the community safe.”

Police patrol Bondi Beach one week after new restrictions were put in place. Picture: Adam Yip

Mr Worboys also said that the police officer who was injured at the anti-lockdown protest will be back at work quickly.

“He will make a full recovery,” the deputy commissioner said.

“But again it is just so disappointing that someone turns up to do their job, to keep the community safe, and suffers a head and neck injury that requires hospitalisation.”

New record high number of cases on Saturday

NSW broke a grim national ­record with 825 new cases ­announced on Saturday, the highest daily number in any state since the pandemic began.

Despite the high case numbers, Premier Gladys Berejik­lian said as more people get vaccinated the daily numbers won’t be the most important statistic.

It will be vaccination rates.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announces the record tally of 825 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases and 3 deaths. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

“We accept the Delta is here, we accept getting to zero across the nation, especially once you open up and live ­freely, will be an impossible task,” she said.

“Rather than getting fixated and panicking, what we need to do is stay calm because we know what works, getting vaccinated is keeping people out of hospital.”

There were three new deaths: a man in his 90s and a man in his 80s who were residents of a dementia wing of Normanhurst’s Greenwood aged care facility, and a woman in her 90s from southwestern Sydney connected to the Liverpool Hospital outbreak.

Six dementia patients at Greenwood were infected by an unvaccinated staff member. Four of the patients have ­refused to be vaccinated.

The record-high numbers were announced on the same day that police arrested 47 people and issued more than 260 fines at an anti-lockdown rally in the Sydney CBD.

Next week Ms Berejiklian will announce a schools plan and what small restrictions will ease for the fully vaccinated.

The 9pm curfew for LGAs of concern will kick in from Monday, and supermarkets including Coles and Woolworths will now close at 8.30pm in those areas.

Numbers in some regions, including the Central Coast and Hunter, are stabilising, but 38 cases in western NSW and 14 in the far west are causing serious concerns.

Ms Berejiklian said no one should be “picky” about which vaccine they got, as pharmacists in Bankstown reported that appetite for AstraZeneca is low.

Bankstown pharmacist Joe El-Azzi said he had vials of AZ sitting in his fridge because people did not want it.