Hunter Covid: 23 new cases on Friday, Newcastle District Court jury trials to resume late October
Rolling coverage: Covid has forced the closure of two Hunter schools, as the region recorded 23 new infections.
Newcastle
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Two Lake Macquarie schools have closed for deep cleaning and contact tracing after members of their communities tested positive for Covid-19.
West Wallsend Public School and Mount Hutton Public School were each forced to close immediately on Friday.
“Parents and carers are asked to please collect their children,” a NSW Education spokesman said.
“Supervision will continue to be provided until all students are collected.
“The West Wallsend OOSH will also be non-operational. All staff and students are asked to self-isolate and follow the NSW health advice and protocols.
“The NSW Department of Education will continue to work closely with NSW Health to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff is maintained.”
Meanwhile, health officials have urged Hunter residents to abide by lockdown rules this weekend, revealing many of the region’s Covid cases have been busy in the community.
“Many of them from our interviews have been quite active in the community while infectious,” Hunter New England Health public health physician Dr David Durrheim said.
“In fact they’ve not stayed in their local suburb but have actually travelled around in their larger local government area.
“We really need to be careful. The person who is walking alongside of us, along the beach walk, may have Covid.
“The person who we cross paths with in the shopping centre may have Covid.”
Dr Durrheim reminded people to social distance and wear a mask even outdoors.
The Hunter recorded 23 new Covid cases on Friday and a death at John Hunter Hospital.
The cases were at Wallsend, Elermore Vale, Mayfield, North Lambton, Bar Beach, Mayfield East, Toronto, Wangi Wangi, Balcolyn, Mount Hutton, Edgeworth, Glendale, Belmont South, Nelson Bay, Tanilba Bay, Singleton and Rutherford.
A case was also reported at Glen Innes, meaning a total of 24 cases were recorded across the health district.
Fourteen of the cases are linked to known infections while 12 were infectious in the community.
Eleven Hunter people are in hospital with Covid and two are in intensive care. A man in his 60s died with Covid at John Hunter Hospital on Thursday.
The cases take the Hunter New England Local Health District total to 391 since the beginning of this outbreak. Of those, 219 cases remain active. Statewide, 1284 new cases were recorded.
Meanwhile, jury trials at Newcastle District Court are expected to resume late October, with enhanced measures including that jurors must be fully vaccinated.
The District Court of NSW announced plans to resume jury trials locally, as well as in Greater Sydney, Gosford and Wollongong from 25 October.
Around 200 trials were forced to be vacated following the suspension of new jury trials from 28 June. Jury trials have recently resumed in some regions that have come out of lockdown but remain suspended in most of NSW.
Chief Judge of the District Court, Justice Derek Price AO, said the resumption of jury trials is the next step in managing a COVID-19 backlog.
“The Court has done everything possible during the lockdown to keep matters progressing, with Judges continuing to hear Judge alone trials, sentencing hearings, local court appeals, pre-trial issues and civil trials remotely by the use of virtual courtrooms,” Justice Price said.
Steps will be taken to ensure the safe return of jury trials in the interests of the health and wellbeing of all court participants and build on measures implemented last year.
Those will include enlargement of jury rooms, the hiring of external facilities for jury deliberation and empanelment, jurors must be fully vaccinated, routine rapid antigen testing, the four square metre capacity rule in courtrooms, individualised meals for jurors and mandatory face mask wearing.
“Court participants will be required to undergo rapid antigen testing at least twice-weekly,” Justice Price said.
“All other matters will continue to be heard remotely, for the time being, for a safer return to jury trials.”
THURSDAY:
Upper Hunter LGAs freed from lockdown
By Jake McCallum
The Hunter saw 16 new Covid-19 cases reported across the region overnight, as the state recorded 1351 new cases.
It comes as Deputy Premier John Barilaro revealed stay-at-home orders will be lifted for Muswellbrook, Singleton, and the Upper Hunter Local Government Areas from 1pm on Thursday.
“I encourage everyone in those 12 LGAs which are coming out of lockdown to enjoy their freedoms in a responsible and COVIDSafe way and I urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as you can, so you can continue to enjoy freedoms when NSW reaches the 70 per cent double dose target,” Mr Barilaro said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said close to 8.5 million had received a vaccination.
He revealed a total of 12 people had died in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
The Health Minister said the additional 16 cases overnight brought the current outbreak to 367.
While a Hunter New England Health Spokeswoman said there are currently 202 active cases in the community.
The spokeswoman said there were six cases from Lake Macquarie LGA, with two reported in Wangi Wangi, one case in Arcadia Vale, one in Charlestown, one in Glendale and another case in West Wallsend.
There were also five cases reported in residents from the Newcastle LGA, with two in Mayfield, and single cases in Hamilton South, New Lambton and Elermore Vale.
An additional three cases were reported in the Cessnock LGA — with two cases in Greta and one case in Cliftleigh. One case was reported in Gunnedah in the New England.
“Fourtenn of the total active cases are currently being cared for in hospital,” the spokeswoman said. “Two are in ICU.”
WEDNESDAY:
Covid in crew on ship off Newcastle
By Emily Burley and Dan Proudman
Health officials have warned Covid is “very close to every one of us”, as the Hunter hit a record number of infections.
Twenty-seven cases were recorded across the region on Wednesday – the highest figure since the Delta outbreak began on August 5.
“This is really a source of concern,” Hunter New England Health public health physician Dr David Durrheim said.
“This means that the virus is very close to every one of us and we really need to at this point take every measure we can to reduce our movement.
“Reduce getting close to people, avoid any gatherings and really keep that distance, that physical distance.”
The new cases were recorded at Charlestown, Mount Hutton, Cardiff South, Windale, Fishing Point, Wyee Point, Mayfield, Hamilton South, Elermore Vale, Tenambit, Beresfield, Cessnock, Cliftleigh, Shoal Bay, and Fingal Bay.
Twenty-two of the cases were linked to known infections including 13 linked to clusters at Mayfield and Tenambit, while 555 close contacts are in isolation across the region.
Twelve of the cases were infectious in the community and 12 Hunter people are in hospital with Covid, but none are in intensive care.
The cases take the HNEH total to 351 since the beginning of this outbreak. Of those, 201 cases remain active.
Statewide, 1259 new cases were recorded and 12 people from Sydney have died.
Dr Durrheim said the only way out of the pandemic was for people to come forward for vaccination.
“We know that people are streaming in to get vaccinated and that is wonderful,” he said.
“As more vaccine becomes available we encourage everyone to get two doses of the vaccine.
“It’s important to note that a single does of vaccine is really just a primer. It only provides about 30 per cent protection.
“You really need to make sure that you do those other things – the mask wearing, the distancing, avoiding crowds – do all of that until you’ve had both of your jabs.”
Meanwhile, health authorities continue to assess the crew of a Panamanian bulk carrier anchored off Swansea after more than half those on board tested positive to Covid-19.
A NSW Health statement on Wednesday afternoon said a highly-trained retrieval medicine specialist had been flown onto the Spirit of Ho-Ping, which is currently located off the coast of Newcastle.
“The medical specialist has assessed all of the 21 crew on board, including the 11 people known to be confirmed cases of Covid-19. None of the crew have required medical transfer from the vessel,’’ the statement said.
“The results of testing, due tomorrow, will determine the next steps for the vessel. Hunter New England LHD will continue to provide medical care and public health advice to those on board, and liaise with the Port Authority of NSW, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, NSW Police, Commonwealth Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment and others.
“The Spirit of Ho Ping has most recently sailed from the Philippines, departing on 16 August, and has not docked in Australia.”
TUESDAY:
Covid outbreak at Newcastle homeless shelter
By Emily Burley
Police and health officials are desperately working to contain a Covid outbreak at a Newcastle property providing emergency accommodation to rough sleepers.
Twelve residents at City Sleep Safe Mayfield have been diagnosed with the virus and moved to a quarantine hotel at Thornton.
A further 22 residents have been identified as close contacts and directed to isolate at the Mayfield property for 14 days.
“The original source is still under investigation and contact tracing is underway to identify all close and casual contacts, as well as any exposure sites that would pose a potential risk to the broader community,” a Hunter New England Health spokeswoman said.
“We are working closely with the residents, building management and NSW Police to implement measures to securely safeguard the health and welfare of residents.
“Food and other services, including daily welfare checks, are being provided to the residents and tailored support services will be available to all isolating residents as needed.”
The health service’s top doctor, Dr David Durrheim, said the virus spread quickly in shared living arrangements.
“City Sleep Safe and Hunter New England Health and other agencies including police are working very closely to ensure that there is no risk to the local community, that there is good care provided to each one of the residents affected and the staff that have been involved in this outbreak,” Dr Durrheim said.
“The virus manages to find any places where people are congregating and particularly where people live in close proximity to others.
“We’ve seen in Sydney big outbreaks in housing complexes and we’ve seen similar incidents in the Hunter New England region.”
City Sleep Safe declined to comment when contacted by The Newcastle News.
The Hunter has recorded 14 new Covid cases including five at Mayfield.
Other cases were recorded at North Lambton, Wallsend, Wangi Wangi, Wyee Point, Singleton, Tenambit and Raymond Terrace.
Ten of the cases were linked to known infections and four were unlinked. Seven were infectious in the community.
Ten Hunter people are in hospital with Covid but none are in intensive care.
The cases take the Hunter New England Local Health District total to 324 since the beginning of the Delta outbreak on August 5. Of those, 172 remain active.
Statewide, 1127 new cases were recorded and two people from Sydney have died.
MONDAY:
Hunter warned of surge in Covid cases
By Dan Proudman and Emily Burley
Health officials have issued a grim warning for the Hunter as contact tracers lose control of new infections.
The region recorded 18 cases on Monday, passing a milestone of 300 since the Delta outbreak began on August 5.
The cases were spread across the region, with infections in the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens, Maitland and Cessnock local government areas.
“They’re scattered quite broadly,” Hunter New England Health public health physician Dr David Durrheim said.
“Fifteen different suburbs have been affected.”
But of greater concern to officials was the mystery around infection sources.
“The disturbing trend that we’ve seen is that with many of these cases, it’s impossible to track back,” Dr Durrheim said.
“This is a great concern because it does mean that the virus is probably spreading to other chains in the community as well.”
Dr Durrheim warned the region was likely to see “many more” cases in the weeks ahead, and was unlikely to return to Covid-zero.
“The outlook will hopefully not be as drastic as we’ve seen in Sydney,” he said.
“But I think we would be at this stage gullible if we didn’t think that we would see a larger increase in cases.”
The Hunter New England Local Health District total for the current outbreak is now 310, with 161 active cases.
Nine people are being care for in hospital and there is not anyone in intensive care.
Eight of the new cases are linked to other cases, two are unlinked and eight are still under investigation.
Two were isolating while infectious and at least eight were infectious in the community.
The state recorded 1,257 locally acquired cases and seven deaths, while there are 1,189 people in hospital and 222 in intensive care including 94 on ventilators.
The five cases in Newcastle included two in Mayfield, one on Mayfield West, one in Elermore Vale and one in Hamilton South.
In Lake Macquarie, two are in Arcadia Vale and one each in Balcolyn, Blackhalls Park and Boolaroo.
In Port Stephens, there was one case in Salamander Bay, Nelson Bay, Anna Bay and Soldiers Point.
There was two in Maitland, including one in Tenambit and two in Cessnock at Greta and Weston.
Hunter New England Health said “due to the high percentage of infectious people in the community and the geographical spread, our public health advice is that there is no longer a public health benefit to break these down for each individual case and suburb’’.
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