Hunter Covid: One new case linked to aged care, 16 per cent of infections asymptomatic
Rolling coverage: The Hunter has recorded only one new Covid case, while health officials have revealed 16 per cent of the region’s infections have no symptoms.
Newcastle
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An aged care resident linked to an existing cluster was the only new Covid case reported in the Hunter on Tuesday.
The person from Anglican Care’s Jesmond Grove facility has been moved to John Hunter Hospital for precautionary treatment and was not infectious in the community.
“Newcastle is settling and I just want to thank the response in that region,” Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
“It still is important we stay the course there.”
The new case takes the region’s total for this outbreak to 160, and the overall Hunter New England Local Health District total to 164, while 143 infections are still active.
Statewide, 753 new locally-acquired cases were recorded with at least 49 of those infectious in the community.
Meanwhile, a surprising number of Covid infections diagnosed in the Hunter present no symptoms, according to health officials.
Since the beginning of the region’s Delta outbreak on August 5, 16 per cent of new cases have been asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis.
“They were at the early stage of Covid but because they got tested or knew they were close contacts or had been to a casual or close contact venue, we were able to find them early,” Hunter New England Health public health physician Dr David Durrheim said.
“Even the mildest symptoms or any exposure at a known venue of concern should prompt us to get tested.”
Testing numbers have dropped as much as 60 per cent from the start of lockdown earlier in the month, when people reported waiting as long as seven days for results.
“The testing numbers are down and so the wait time to get a result is much less,” Dr Durrheim said.
“In terms of getting tested, getting a swab done, if you’ve got the mildest symptoms you can make a great community contribution.”
TUESDAY’S ROLLING COVERAGE
Latest testing numbers revealed
At 3pm
Hunter New England Health has revealed Covid testing figures from the week August 14-22.
Lake Macquarie had the highest number of any local government area within the health district at 18,409, followed by Newcastle at 17,529.
One new Hunter case
At 11am
An aged care resident linked to an existing cluster was the only new Covid case reported in the Hunter on Tuesday.
The person from Anglican Care’s Jesmond Grove facility has been moved to John Hunter Hospital for precautionary treatment and was not infectious in the community.
“Newcastle is settling and I just want to thank the response in that region,” Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
“It still is important we stay the course there.”
The new case takes the region’s total for this outbreak to 160, and the overall Hunter New England Local Health District total to 164, while 143 infections are still active.
Statewide, 753 new locally-acquired cases were recorded with at least 49 of those infectious in the community.
New exposure sites
At 8am
A new casual contact venue has been identified by NSW Health, while the Costco alerts have been reissued.
People who attended the below venues are considered close contacts and must isolate for 14 days regardless of their test result, and await advice from NSW Health:
- Anyone who worked at or attended the Costco Boolaroo warehouse from Monday 16 August to Friday 20 August
People who attended the below venues are considered casual contacts and must isolate until a negative test result is received:
- Your Discount Chemist, East Maitland on Thursday 12 August from 4.37pm – 5pm, and Friday 13 August from 11.09am – 11.11am
- Costco petrol station and membership office, Boolaroo anytime from Monday 16 August to Friday 20 August
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