Dubbo Covid outbreak: News, updates from virus-hit regional NSW
Rolling coverage: The Western NSW Local Health District has recorded 36 new Covid cases, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 320.
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More than 300 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Western NSW Local Health District less than two weeks after the Delta outbreak began.
To 8pm on Monday the district recorded 36 new cases which included 23 in Dubbo, five in Parkes, two in Bourke, two in Wellington, two in Gilgandra, one in Coonamble and one in Narromine.
The latest figures mean the Western NSW LHD now has 320 cases linked to the Delta outbreak, including 259 in Dubbo.
Western NSW LHD chief executive Scott McLachlan said 13 patients were being cared for in hospital, with four in the intensive care unit and one requiring ventilation.
The vaccination status of the hospitalised patients has not yet been made public.
Mr McLachlan said the number of health staff in isolation because they were contacts of people with Covid had forced the LHD to go on a recruitment drive.
“We are reaching out for additional staff … we will need extra support in coming weeks,” he said.
Responding to online backlash from the Narromine community which was concerned about a local hospital being turned into a dedicated Covid hospital, Mr McLachlan moved to reassure residents their health and safety would not be compromised.
“Like any hospital we’ve got extreme safety things in place for both our staff and patients and the broader community.
“People shouldn’t be concerned about the roll that Narromine and other hospitals across the region might need to play for patients with Covid that need hospitalisation.
“This is our time to look after the whole of our community and our region and I really would reassure everyone this is a sensible and logical thing for us to do. We do want to care for people as close to home as possible.”
In the Far West LHD there were 15 new Covid cases, 14 in Wilcannia and one who was tested in Wilcannia but resides in Queensland now.
UPDATE 2pm, August 23
Deputy Premier John Barilaro has revealed his lockdown lifting deadline for regional NSW — as a small hospital near Dubbo is set to be converted into a dedicated Covid treatment facility for patients across western NSW.
Mr Barilaro said Thursday this week will be the deciding date to determine whether regional communities across the state are lifted out of lockdown, as “fluctuating numbers” could spark longer restrictions.
In an address to regional reporters, Mr Barilaro said active case data, sewage detection and cases in neighbouring local government areas up until Wednesday night will be used determine the fate of hundreds of regional communities summering through tight lockdowns.
“I want to give regions, including the Hunter region, the chance to get out of lockdown,” he said on Monday afternoon. “I’ll give it to Wednesday and then we will make a decision which I will take to crisis cabinet.”
The Deputy Premier said while a method for lifting local government areas “hasn’t been finalised” he has called for factors to include “14 days without a case”.
The deadline comes as Mr Barilaro said the NSW Government may be forced to consider increased restrictions regarding Sydney-based construction workers travelling to regional towns for work.
“It is something we will have to consider because we’ve now got a number of construction sites in the regions … with cases predominantly brought from Sydney.
“Construction seems to be an area that is of concern now and everything is possible — we could tighten restrictions.”
Mr Barilaro told The Dubbo News that no new restrictions would be enforced across Dubbo, despite another 24 cases in Western Local Health and 14 in the Dubbo Local Government Area announced on Monday morning.
Western NSW Local Health District chief executive Scott McLachlan announced Narromine Hospital, about 35 kilometres west of Dubbo, would be used to care for Covid patients because of it’s proximity to intensive care and specialist services in Dubbo.
“Narromine Hospital is being converted into a dedicated hospital for the care of Covid patients, particularly patients that might come from some of our northwest rural and remote communities like Cobar, Bourke, Brewarrina, Nyngan and those areas,” Mr McLachlan confirmed.
Further details about the changes are expected to be later this week.
Mr McLachlan also revealed the emergency department at Bathurst Hospital would be expanded into a nearby mental health impatient unit known as the Panorma Clinic, with patients who were there now set to be cared for in the community.
Across the western NSW Local Health District there are 13 patients with Covid in hospital, five in intensive care units and one who requires ventilation. There are now 283 people with Covid.
Mr McLaclan said when the outbreak began it was mostly children and young people who were catching Covid, however now more of the older population are being diagnosed with the virus.
“Last week we only had one person aged over 70, there’s now three,” he said.
“We’ve got a significant growth in the number of people aged between 50 and 70 that have been confirmed with Covid. Around 45 per cent of the cases are aged under 20.”
UPDATE 11.30am, August 23
The Western NSW Local Health District has recorded 24 new cases of Covid-19 to 8pm Sunday.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said 14 of the cases were in Dubbo, one was linked to the Coonamble Shire Council Area, 6 were from Goodooga, one from Parkes, one from Orange and one from Mudgee.
A further three cases were reported in the Far West Local Area Health District, with two located in Broken Hill and one in Wilcannia.
UPDATE 3pm, August 20
Deputy Premier John Barilaro has said he has not ruled out declaring Dubbo a Covid-19 hotspot after the NSW Crisis Cabinet meeting overnight knocked back harsher “Sydney-like” restrictions including overnight curfews.
In a regional Covid briefing on Friday afternoon, the Deputy Premier said NSW Health “wasn’t panicked at the moment” over stable case numbers in their 20s reported again overnight.
Mr Barilaro said the region could face a “staged hotspot declaration” if cases worsen.
“We could ramp up further restrictions, close more businesses and eliminate access to the local Bunnings or nursery,” he said. “We could go through a whole heap of stages were we implement restrictions in Dubbo — but we have learnt a whole lot in Sydney and I’ll probably skip a couple of stages and go straight toa harder lockdown if I need to.
“But I don’t want to imposehardship whenwe don’t need to.”
It comes as the Western NSW LHD recorded 27 new cases of Covid-19, including 21 in Dubbo, two in Bourke, two in Gilgandra and two in Goodooga — bringing the total for the WNSWLHD to 194.
On Thursday it was reported the Australian Defence Force will provide pop-up Covid-19 vaccination clinics in 33 communities in 23 days across western NSW.
Western NSW Local Health District chief executive Scott McLachlan said in West Dubbo a walk-in clinic would open at 9am on Saturday at Pioneer Park, operating for nine days.
“In total there will be five mobile teams, involving at least 72 ADF personnel. Each team will be supported by healthcare workers, including Aboriginal health workers,” Mr McLachlan said.
“Over a three-week period the mobile teams will spend between one and five days in each location, offering free Covid-19 vaccinations. At the end of that initial three weeks, the teams will go back again to deliver the second dose. Both AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines will be available, depending on each person’s eligibility.”
Mr McLachlan said on average day the mobile service would be able to offer up to 300 vaccinations, and at a site like West Dubbo, the capacity could be as high as 600 doses per day.
“Covid-19 is incredibly easy to spread and can make even healthy people very sick. If we have too many people getting sick from Covid it’s going to get in the way of our hospitals and health services taking care of everyone – whether they have Covid or need treatment for something else.
“The vaccine can help stop you getting Covid-19, and if you do get it, the vaccine will mean you’re less likely to get really sick, or pass it onto someone else.
“This is an incredible opportunity for these communities. Having the ADF involved means we can do this on a scale we couldn’t have imagined a few weeks ago. We’re asking everyone in these communities to not let the opportunity pass them by. People shouldn’t call their local hospitals to try and book at these clinics, they are walk-in clinics so there’s no need to book at all.”
Mr McLachlan said existing vaccination hubs in Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst would also be stepping up their activities.
“Our hub sites will be expanding their hours and given the current situation in Dubbo it’s a real focus of our attention.
“In addition to the pop-up clinic in West Dubbo and the expansion of hours at the hub at the Manera Plaza, we’re also going to host both a booked vaccination clinic at the Showground alongside NSW’s first drive-through clinic.”
UPDATE 3pm, August 18
Dubbo could be considered a regional Covid hotspot as early as Friday — following pleas for further restrictions to kerb the growing threat of the virus on the community.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro has revealed Dubbo state Nationals MP Dugald Saunders has called for the Dubbo region to be declared a Covid hotspot, with Mr Barilaro expected to take the plea to the NSW Crisis Committee meeting on Thursday night.
In a briefing to regional NSW reporters on Thursday afternoon, the Deputy Premier said he didn’t see the Dubbo local government area coming out of lockdown, like many other regional and rural communities across the state next month.
“In most of regional NSW next Saturday, I believe we’re coming back to the freedoms we have previously to lockdown,” he said. “But for those local government areas that will be stuck in lockdown because of case numbers like Dubbo, I don’t envisage Dubbo coming out soon.”
Mr Barilaro said a “regional road map” would be revealed as early as next week.
When asked if he would support calls for a “ring of steel” around Dubbo, the Deputy Premier said the significance of Dubbo as a “major economic hub and centre for service delivery” needed to be taken into account.
The call for hotspot measures to be enacted across the local government area comes as it was confirmed regional NSW will remain in lockdown until at least August 28 as the number of Covid cases continues to grow.
In the Western NSW Local Health District to 8pm last night there were 25 new Covid cases reported.
It brings the total number of cases in the district to 167 since the Delta outbreak began.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said new cases had been detected in Bathurst, Brewarrina and Dubbo.
UPDATE 4:20pm, August 18
The big in spike in western NSW Covid case numbers and venues of concern has forced thousands of residents into isolation and it’s the reason some residents have been left waiting up to five days for test results.
On Wednesday the Western NSW Local Health District chief executive Scott McLachlan said the unprecedented “stress and pressure on testing services” meant more tests had to be sent to labs in Orange or Westmead.
“Our pathology lab in Dubbo has had a number of staff identified as close contacts or casual contacts and so they’ve had to isolate,” Mr McLachlan said.
“What we’ve done is bring in some more rapid testing capability, we’re also putting on some extra courier services to get the tests to the labs that can diagnose and resolve those tests as quickly as possible.
“There may be some extra wait times with those and so I do apologise, but unfortunately these things will happen from time to time with our pathology services.”
Mr McLachlan said Dubbo was not the only location impacted.
“We’ve had a number of staff in Mudgee that have needed to be in isolation for a short period of time, we’ve pulled in some additional staff for the testing this morning to support with that so we do apologise if there’s long wait times in Mudgee,” he said.
In a community updated posted to Facebook Mr McLachlan said 142 cases of Covid had been confirmed in the past week alone since the Delta outbreak hit the western NSW district.
“Over 67 per cent of our total case numbers are Aboriginal, with a growing number of non-Aboriginal people in our confirmed cases,” he said.
“Around 40 per cent are kids between the ages of 10 and 19. We still don’t have any cases over the age of 70.
“We currently have five patients in hospital, none of those are currently in intensive care.”
@TheDubboNews Dubbo coming out for testing at the showground pic.twitter.com/4Aw140qZqO
— Sam McCauley (@SamMcCauley) August 10, 2021
More than 10,000 people were tested across the western NSW district on Tuesday and currently, there are 81 venues of concern, mainly in Dubbo.
“The majority of cases have been infectious in the community,” Mr McLachlan said.
Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said of the 23 new cases reported to 8pm Tuesday in the western NSW district, 21 were in Dubbo, one was in Bourke and one was in Mudgee.
“From here on in, we will be focusing on new cases,” Mr Saunders said.
“It gets very difficult to keep adding up numbers and then we’ll start taking away numbers as people become Covid negative, so we will stick with positive additional cases for each day from this point forward.”
Mr Saunders said he had lobbied Deputy Premier John Barilaro to declare the Dubbo Region a “hotspot” or local government of a concern so more assistance could be made available to locals hit hard by the lockdown.
Neighbouring smaller local government areas in western NSW could also be declared local government areas of concern, paving the way for eligible workers in the region to access the state government’s $320 test and isolate support payment while they wait for a Covid-19 test result.
Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said more than 68,000 people in western NSW who turned out for a test in the last month deserved the same support as people in Sydney.
“If workers in Sydney are getting these payments why are those in western NSW treated like second class citizens?,” Mr Morey asked.
“We are all paying the price for the Premier’s slow and lacklustre response to this outbreak. But it’s not too late to get this under control if we put economic security at the heart of the response.”
UPDATE 11.30am, August 18
Western NSW has recorded 27 new cases of Covid-19, taking the total since the start of the Delta outbreak to 148.
Of the new cases reported by NSW Health to 8pm Tuesday, 23 were in the Western NSW Local Health District and four were in the Far West Local Health District.
It comes as the first of five Australian Defence Force crews arrive in the region to help police and health officials with management of Covid positive cases, vaccination delivery and public health enforcement.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said 17 of the new cases in the western NSW district were from Dubbo, while a smaller number of other confirmed cases were in Mudgee, Narromine and Gilgandra.
“In the far west, Wilcannia has three cases, Bourke and the reported case at Broken Hill yesterday,” Mr Barilaro said.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant urged residents in Wilcannia to come out for testing after she revealed there was concerns about potential exposure, believed to have stemmed from a funeral which was held recently in the remote community.
Fragments of the virus that caused Covid-19 had also been found in sewage samples taken from Orange and Bathurst, Dr Chant said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced 633 new cases across the state, which the worst total daily case count since the pandemic began.
“At the moment, according to the data we have, every person who has the virus is spreading it to at least more than one person,” she said.
“Now, for us to know that we have reached our peak, that can‘t continue. So what the data is telling us in the last few days is that we haven’t seen the worst of it.
“And the way that we stop this is by everybody staying at home. You cannot get the virus if you do not have contact with other people. You have to assume, no matter where you are in the state, that every time you set foot out of your door, that you have the virus or anybody you‘re in contact with has the virus.”
Deputy NSW Police Commissioner Gary Worboys said police continued to catch people breaching public health orders, including one Queensland man who was busted after he hit a kangaroo at Mendooran near Dubbo on Tuesday.
“That person told police quite willingly he arrived about 10 days ago from Queensland,” Deputy Commissioner Worboys said.
“He came to the airport, he hired a car and he decide that he would travel around country NSW on back roads because he was sick of Covid … he was issued a $1,000 infringement notice directed to return to Sydney to a nominated address.”
UPDATE 1.:30pm, August 17
Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said Covid cases had been recorded overnight in Narromine and Gilgandra.
Mr Saunders said the two cases would be included in tomorrow’s case count.
In an update to local reporters, Western NSW Local Health District chief executive Scott McLachlan said neither of the cases had been infectious in the community.
“Pleasingly we have no cases in the over 70-year-old age group,” he revealed.
Mr McLachlan said 40 per cent of the district’s cases were in children aged 10 to 19, with a large number of cases in West Dubbo and among Aboriginal community members.
Two patients remain in hospital with Covid and one who was being treated in Bourke has now been moved to Dubbo Base Hospital.
More than 10,000 people were tested across the district on Monday and Mr McLachlan said 90 extra nurses have been called in to help after 84 health district staff were forced into isolation.
Officially there are 116 confirmed Covid cases in the district, 107 of whom are in Dubbo, four in Walgett, three in Mudgee and two in Bourke.
The numbers are expected to rise as the list of venues of concern grows and given most of the new cases were infectious in the community.
Mr McLachlan said five Australian Defence Force teams would start arriving in Dubbo today to help get more community members vaccinated.
He confirmed the ADF would help establish and deliver a walk-in vaccination hub at Pioneer Park in West Dubbo and a drive-through vaccination clinic at Dubbo Showground.
Assistant NSW Police Commissioner and Western Region Commander Geoff McKechnie said police had issued 32 infringement notices in Dubbo in the past 24 hours to “people still intent on moving around the city without a reasonable excuse”.
“A bit part of our work at the moment is around compliance of the health orders,” he said.
“The ADF personnel arriving in Dubbo this afternoon will assist us with compliance work.”
Commander McKechnie said 25 ADF staff would help police carry out business inspections and mobile patrols to make sure public health orders were complied with.
“I’m sure 99.9 per cent of people are doing the right thing,” Commander McKechnie said.
“Scott reports we’ve got no cases with people over 70, maybe people over 70 are better at complying then some of our younger people.”
Mayor Stephen Lawrence praised the community for the response to the lockdown and said about half of Dubbo’s population had been tested.
“We’ve seen some 28,000 people go and get tested for Covid-19 in the last little while,” Councillor Lawrence said.
“It’s absolutely extraordinary.
“We can get on top of this.”
UPDATE 11.30pm, August 17
Eighteen new Covid cases were recorded in the Western NSW Local Health District to 8pm Monday, NSW Health has announced.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said 16 of the new cases were in Dubbo and two were in Bourke.
This brings the total number of active cases in the district to 116.
Mr Barilaro said that overnight, one new case was recorded in Broken Hill which is located in the Far West NSW Local Health District.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said extra resources would be sent to western NSW “to make sure we get on top of the cases there”.
“In regional NSW, western NSW remains of enormous concern,” she said.
UPDATE 6pm, August 16
Mian School in Dubbo will be closed on Tuesday for cleaning and contact tracing after a member of the school community tested positive for Covid-19.
A Department of Education spokesman said all staff and students had been asked to self-isolate and follow NSW Health protocols.
The spokesman said Dubbo School of Distance Education would open for staff, students and visitors on Tuesday after a member of the school community tested positive to Covid-19.
Students and staff who were close contacts have been asked to self-isolate for the required period and follow NSW Health rules. The school has been cleaned.
NSW Health has told every staff member and student at Dubbo West Public School to get tested and self-isolate for 14 days. The school remains closed.
Dubbo South Public School, Dubbo College Delroy Campus, Mudgee High School and Buninyong Public School remain closed.
Orana Heights Public School and Dubbo College South Campus will be closed until August 26 with all staff and students at both schools asked to get tested and isolate for 14 days.
Macquarie Anglican Grammar School in Dubbo reopened today for children who were unable to learn from home.
Update 2:30pm, August 16
Major Dubbo meat processor Fletchers has closed its local abattoir in a bid to protect the local community from Covid-19 and slow the virus’s spread through regional NSW.
Business owner Roger Fletcher said he made the tough decision to voluntarily close the abattoir for a week.
“Dubbo is in a tough position,” Mr Fletcher told The Weekly Times.
“We have got no Covid at the plant and we do not want to get it, so we decided to close the plant before the horse had bolted.”
Fletchers employs about 800 people and as it is an essential service, the business could have remained open during the Covid crisis.
“We could have kept it going but we thought it best for everyone to close for now, so we can get back up and going as soon as possible,” Mr Fletcher said.
“We hope it will just be the week and we do the right thing to protect our people and markets.”
UPDATE 1pm, August 16
Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed to Dubbo and Walgett later this week as authorities warn they are “stretched” dealing with the worsening Covid outbreak.
The Western NSW Local Health District recorded 35 new Covid cases on Monday, taking the region’s total to 98 since the beginning of the Delta outbreak just last week.
Of the new cases, 32 were located in Dubbo and three were from Mudgee.
Mr Saunders also confirmed there was one active case at Bourke which would be listed in official case numbers on August 17.
Western NSW LHD chief executive Scott McLachlan said 40 per cent of all Covid cases in the region were children aged between 10 and 19.
“This is a really serious warning for parents and kids running around everywhere, please stay at home,” Mr McLachlan said.
“We have two patients in hospital.”
“It is incredibly scary and concerning for all of us in western NSW … we are stretched, there’s no question … our workforce is finite.”
Mr McLachlan said later this week five ADF teams would deployed to western NSW to help deliver extra vaccine doses to people from Walgett and surrounding communities.
He said plans to set up drive-through vaccination clinics were being worked on, along with a new vaccination clinic in West Dubbo.
About 9500 tests were carried out across the region in the past 24 hours, with 4500 done in Dubbo, 832 in Mudgee, 171 in Bathurst, 324 in Orange, 191 in Parkes and 162 in Bourke.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said rising case numbers in the Dubbo region had health officials “particularly concerned”.
“I am particularly concerned at the moment around Dubbo and the impact Covid is having on Aboriginal communities in Dubbo,” she said.
“Also the fact that Aboriginal vaccination levels are not as high as I would like to see them.
“We are working with the Commonwealth to increase opportunities for vaccination in impacted areas in western NSW.”
The rising case numbers come after NSW Health added to the list of venues of concern, where possible Covid transmission may have taken place, on Sunday night.
Russo’s Coffee Bar and the Dubbo Scout Hall were the latest venues to be listed as close-contact venues while the Bathurst Subway store, Village Bakehouse and Byng Street Cafe in Orange were also added the list.
Mudgee High School, Buninyong Public School, Dubbo West Public School, Dubbo South Public School and Dubbo College Delroy Campus have been closed after confirmed cases of Covid-19 were linked to the schools.
Orana Heights Public School and Dubbo College South Campus have been shut down until August 26, with all staff asked to get tested and isolate for 14 days.
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