Dubbo Covid: Western NSW Covid-19 news and updates

Thousands of new Pfizer doses will be rolled out to remote communities in western NSW as health staff scramble to contain a Covid outbreak.

UPDATE 10pm

A fourth Dubbo school has been closed after a student tested positive for Covid-19.

Dubbo College South Campus staff and students have been forced into self-isolation and the school will be closed on Friday while cleaning and contact tracing take place.

The new case is expected to be included in tomorrow’s NSW Health numbers and was confirmed in a post on the school’s Facebook page.

UPDATE 4pm

Police have revealed how they are cracking down on motorists coming into western NSW from areas hit hard by Covid.

NSW Police Western Region commander Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie speaking in Dubbo. Picture: Ryan Young

NSW Police Western Region commander, Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie said officers had sites set up at Lithgow, Cassilis and Willow Tree in the Liverpool Plains, to monitor motorists entering the region.

“We’re targeting the Golden Highway, the New England Highway and the Great Western Highway … and checking the reasons for the travel.

“What we’re doing is using the automatic number plate recognition systems in our vehicles that are patrolling the main roads into the region.

“Those systems are loaded with addresses, if an address is detected in the metro area that vehicle is then obviously subject to checking by the police.”

Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said while traffic movements into the region had declined “markedly”, police would maintain their presence at potential public health order breach hot spots.

“People need to stay put, put off your travel,” he said.

“If it’s not absolutely necessary don’t do it.”

UPDATE 3pm

To help meet increased demand for testing a new testing clinic has been set up at Pioneer Park in West Dubbo.

The clinic will be open until 5pm on Thursday and from 8am to 4pm on Friday and Saturday.

Hey #Dubbo, an additional Covid-19 testing site has been established at Pioneer Park in west Dubbo today (Thursday 12...

Posted by Western NSW Local Health District on Wednesday, August 11, 2021

UPDATE 1.30pm

More than 2800 people in Dubbo got tested for Covid on Wednesday, the Western NSW Local Health District chief executive officer Scott McLachlan confirmed on Thursday.

At a morning press conference Mr McLachlan said the demand for testing in Dubbo and growth in cases had led authorities to set up an additional testing clinic West Dubbo.

Western NSW Local Health District chief executive officer Scott McLachlan said authorities were bracing for more Covid cases in Dubbo. Picture: Ryan Young

It’s expected to be operational on Thursday afternoon.

“I expect throughout the day there will be more venues of concern identified,” Mr McLachlan said.

“I do expect in the next 24 hours we are going to see a significant growth in the number of confirmed cases in Dubbo in particular.

“This is really a time for everyone to please stay at home. Please take care of your loved ones and your family. Don’t go out if you don’t need to.”

Other key news from the press conference

• The 27-year-old man in Walgett who tested positive for Covid had five close contacts who have all been asked to get tested and isolate. .
• Two of the man’s close contacts are among the three cases who tested positive in Dubbo overnight.
• The third remaining new case is linked to the first two identified in Dubbo – a woman in her 40s and a child who was a household contact.
• Mr McLachlan said despite the best efforts of contact tracers, it was still unclear how Dubbo’s first two confirmed cases contracted Covid.
• Rules to keep hospital patients and staff in Western NSW safe have changed. Pregnant women and palliative care patients will be allowed visitors, but visits to other patients will be more restricted. Increased screening and personal protective equipment for staff is also being rolled out.
• Over 5000 doses of Pfizer have were delivered to Dubbo on Thursday. A dedicated team of staff is being sent to Walgett with many of the jabs, in a bid to drive up vaccination rates in vulnerable communities.
• All confirmed Covid cases in western NSW are being cared for at their homes.

Elizabeth Melville was one of more than 2800 people who lined up for testing in Dubbo on Wednesday. Picture: Ryan Young

UPDATE 11.30am

Orana Heights Public School in Dubbo has been closed and contact tracing is underway after a student tested positive for Covid-19.

A NSW Department of Education spokesman confirmed the case on Thursday morning.

Orana Heights Public School in Dubbo. Picture: Google

“All staff and students are asked to self-isolate and follow the NSW Health advice and protocols,” the spokesman said.

“Parents and carers are requested to please come and collect their students.”

NSW Health has confirmed the student is the sixth Covid case to be diagnosed in western NSW in recent days.

A woman in her 40s and a child who was a household contact tested positive on Tuesday.

One of those cases was a member of the West Dubbo Public School community and a close contact of someone linked to Macquarie Anglican Grammar School.

Both schools were closed on Wednesday before Dubbo entered a snap seven-day lockdown, along with eight other local government areas in the western NSW.

A 27-year-old man in Walgett tested positive for Covid on Wednesday after he spent time in Dubbo and the Bathurst jail.

The jail has been put into a precautionary lockdown.

In addition to the student at Orana Heights Public School, NSW Health confirmed another two cases were detected in Dubbo overnight, which brought the total number of cases in western NSW to six on Thursday morning.

More to come