Hunter Covid: 13 new cases recorded in the region, earlier case numbers revised
The Hunter region has recorded 13 new cases, with that number revised down from 16 announced at Saturday’s news conference.
Newcastle
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The Hunter recorded 13 new cases of Covid-19 overnight, bringing the total since the outbreak of the Delta strain to 91.
A higher figure of 16 was announced at Saturday’s news conference, before Hunter New England Health said three cases had been removed from the tally.
“They include two people who have been confirmed as negative for Covid-19 following repeat testing, and one confirmed case of Covid-19 who had a residential address outside the district,” the health service said in a statement.
The update came as Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced a statewide lockdown from 5pm Saturday.
The revised figure takes the region’s total for this outbreak to 91, and the overall Hunter New England Local Health District total to 95. No new cases were recorded in the New England region.
Seven of the new cases were from Maitland, four from Lake Macquarie, one from Cessnock and one from Singleton.
All were linked to known cases, three were infectious in the community and four were linked to aged care.
EXCLUSIVE: HOW THE VIRUS SPREAD THROUGH THE HUNTER
It comes as NSW recorded a record 466 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm Friday, with four deaths recorded, none of which were in the Hunter region.
A man in his 70s from south western Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital.
A man in his 80s from south western Sydney died at Concord Hospital.
A woman in her 40s from northern Sydney also died at Concord Hospital.
A woman in her 70s from south western Sydney died at Campbelltown Hospital.
Of the locally acquired cases, 121 are linked to a known case or cluster – 101 are household contacts and 20 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 345 cases is under investigation.
Seventy-six cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 19 were in isolation for part of their infectious period. Sixty-eight cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 303 remains under investigation.
One new case was acquired overseas in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. Four previously reported cases have been excluded following further investigation, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 12,903.
FRIDAY’S COVERAGE
The Hunter’s top doctor has said a group of tradespeople working on a Port Stephens construction where Covid broke out brought the virus from southwest Sydney.
“Very importantly was a group of subcontractors working up in the Port Stephens area, who came up from Campsie right in the heart of the outbreak, who brought the virus with them,” Dr David Durrheim said, speaking on the origins of the Hunter’s outbreak.
The tradespeople were working on new stages of the Sunrise Over 50s Retirement Community at Bobs Farm.
It comes as the Hunter recorded four new Covid cases overnight and the region’s first death for this outbreak.
A resident of the RFBI Hawkins Masonic Village has died in Newcastle. The man, aged in his late 90s, was fully vaccinated.
He was in palliative care prior to contracting the virus and is understood to have died early on Wednesday morning.
“He had acquired his infection recently as part of the outbreak in the facility,” deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale said.
“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to that family at this time.”
RFBI CEO Frank Price said he had contacted the family of the resident to express his condolences.
“The family is most appreciative of the support that they have received during this time by the staff at RFBI Hawkins Masonic Village and they understood that their loved one had been palliating prior to contracting Covid-19,” Mr Price said.
Mr Price said the resident had been at the Edgeworth facility for five years and his health had deteriorated significantly recently.
“Our staff were working closely to care for him since he began to palliate two weeks ago,” he said.
The cases take the region’s total to 78 for this outbreak, and the overall Hunter New England Local Health District total to 82. One new case was recorded in the New England.
Of the four new cases, one was from Newcastle, one from Lake Macquarie, one from Maitland and one from Port Stephens.
One was infectious in the community and all were linked to known cases.
Hunter New England Health public health controller Dr David Durrheim said case numbers, down from 24 on Thursday, were reassuring.
“That’s a relatively small number of cases and it gives us some sense of a glimmer of hope,” Dr Durrheim said.
“Clearly, it’s too early to say we’ve turned a corner, and we know that some of the lag on laboratory times might mean that there are still cases in the system that we haven’t yet been alerted to.”
Across the state 390 locally-acquired cases were recorded with at least 60 of those infectious in the community. A woman in her 40s from Sydney has also died.
Meanwhile, Anglican Care has confirmed two residents and a second staff member at its Jesmond Grove home are Covid-positive, in addition to the staff member identified on Tuesday.
“The positive test (of the two residents and extra staff member) follows a facility-wide lockdown and mass testing after a staff member from Jesmond Grove tested positive,” Anglican Care said on its website.
“The positive resident cases have been transferred to John Hunter Hospital.
“Residents and families have been informed and we are continuing to provide care and support.
“We have commenced our pandemic response plan to ensure the continued safety and wellbeing of our residents. This has included thorough cleaning, increased protective equipment and social distancing where possible.
“We are in close contact with NSW Health as they investigate the case and identify close contacts.”
Anglican Care said staff who had contact with the positive cases were isolating at home, and all staff and residents would be tested daily for as long as was needed.
It said extra staff would be brought in to continue care for residents.
“Our dedicated staff are working to provide the highest level of care possible to the residents of Jesmond Grove.
“However, during this latest Covid-19 wave that is impacting several local aged care facilities, we are running at a lower staffing base than usual and there may be increased time between care activities.
“Rest assured we are engaging with every resident multiple times per day, especially to monitor for any change or illness.
“We have registered nurses on site to respond to any concerns.
“We are sourcing staff from across the agencies of the Anglican Diocese as well as external providers.”
Anglican Care said its staff had shown “strong support” for the vaccine and were working towards a national mandate requiring all aged care workers to have had at least one jab by September 17.
It’s the second aged care outbreak in the region. Eleven residents and three staff members tested positive at RFBI Hawkins Masonic Village at Edgeworth. One resident has since died.
A staff member at HammondCare’s Tinonee Gardens at Waratah has also contracted the virus, but no cases have been reported among residents.
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FRIDAY’S ROLLING COVERAGE:
Tradies brought virus from Sydney
At 3.30pm
The Hunter’s top doctor has said a group of tradespeople working on a Port Stephens construction where Covid broke out brought the virus from southwest Sydney.
“Very importantly was a group of subcontractors working up in the Port Stephens area, who came up from Campsie right in the heart of the outbreak, who brought the virus with them,” Dr David Durrheim said, speaking on the origins of the Hunter’s outbreak.
The tradespeople were working on new stages of the Sunrise Over 50s Retirement Community at Bobs Farm.
The workers did not have contact with residents living in completed stages of the development, who were notified of the outbreak in a letter from management on Wednesday night.
It is understood the men were staying in a property at Newcastle and were on the site between August 2 and 9.
Suburbs with high case numbers revealed
At 2.30pm
Data obtained by Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery has shown Cardiff, Cardiff Heights and Glendale to have the highest Covid case numbers in the electorate.
The figures, which only apply to the Wallsend electorate, reveal it has 52 of the Hunter’s 78 confirmed cases.
- Cardiff, Cardiff Heights, Glendale – 19
- Jesmond, Lambton, North Lambton – 10
- Shortland – 6
- Birmingham Gardens, Elermore Vale, Fletcher, Maryland, Minmi, Rankin Park and Wallsend – 6
- Callaghan – 4
- New Lambton and New Lambton Heights – 4
- Waratah and Waratah West – 2
- Beresfield, Black Hill, Hexham, Lenaghan and Tarro – 1
Ms Hornery said 22,488 tests had been conducted across her electorate over the past 14 days.
The suburbs reflect a patient’s registered home address, even if they are in quarantine, hospital or staying elsewhere.
Almost 700 students in isolation
At 1pm
The number of students forced to isolate after a zone athletics carnival was on Wednesday labelled an exposure site has been revealed.
The Crossroads Zone Athletics Carnival at Hunter Sports Centre, Glendale on Tuesday, August 3 between 9.30am-12.30pm was identified as a casual contact venue, after a Covid infected person attended.
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery revealed on Facebook the carnival was attended by 677 students including 12 assisting high school students, and 44 staff including 38 teachers and six interns from the University of Newcastle.
The affected schools include Barnsley PS, Cardiff PS, Cardiff South PS, Cardiff North PS, Edgeworth PS, Edgeworth Heights PS, Elermore Vale PS, Garden Suburb PS, Glendale East PS, Glendore PS, Maryland PS, Minmi PS, Plattsburg PS, Shortland PS, Wallsend PS, Wallsend South PS, West Wallsend PS and Glendale Technology High School.
Sydney women charged over breaches
At 11.30am
Two Sydney women who transferred Covid-19 in the Hunter while allegedly defying orders to return to Sydney have been charged with failing to comply with directions under the public health order.
Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing (Regional NSW Field Operations) announced the charges at a press conference on Friday, adding that police allege both women had a history of noncompliance with public health orders.
Four new cases and one death
At 11am
The Hunter has recorded four new Covid cases overnight and the region’s first death for this outbreak.
A resident of the RFBI Hawkins Masonic Village has died in Newcastle. The man, aged in his late 90s, was fully vaccinated.
The cases take the region’s total to 78 for this outbreak, and the overall Hunter New England Local Health District total to 82. One new case was recorded in the New England.
Of the four new cases, one was from Newcastle, one from Lake Macquarie, one from Maitland and one from Port Stephens.
One was infectious in the community and all were linked to known cases.
Covid scare at Hunter Valley mine
At 10.30am
A Hunter Valley coal mine was faced with a Covid scare this week with an employee identified as a potential close contact of a positive case.
While at work on Tuesday night, an employee at Liddell Coal was notified by NSW Health, which caused the open cut mine to close temporarily for deep cleaning and contact tracing of other employees.
“The site immediately enacted its Covid-19 response plan and continues to follow this protocol,” Liddell Coal spokesperson said.
“The advice from NSW Health was that both the employee and a colleague, with whom he had a close contact outside of work, were to undergo testing to self-isolate.”
The test results of both were negative, but the employee will have to continue to self-isolate for 14 days.
“We continue to follow the advice of health authorities in implementing COVID protocols at all Glencore sites,” the spokesperson said.
Liddell Coal permitted crews back onto the mine site to continue working on Wednesday morning.
Latest exposure sites revealed
At 8am
The latest list of Hunter exposure sites has been revealed by NSW Health.
People who attended the below venues are considered casual contacts and must isolate until a negative test result is received:
- Woolworths, Maitland on Thursday 5 August from 1.36pm-2.14pm
- Coles, Waratah on Friday 6 August from 5.25-5.45pm and Sunday 8 August from 12.01pm-12.35pm
- Aldi, Kotara on Sunday 8 August from 11.31am-11.51am
- Coles, The Junction on Sunday 8 August from 12.53pm-1pm
- Big W, Jesmond on Sunday 8 August from 4.15pm-4.20pm
- Woolworths, Jesmond on Sunday 8 August from 4.22pm-4.28pm
- The Newcastle Hotel, Islington on Sunday 1 August from 9.45pm-11.30pm
- Aldi, Edgeworth on Saturday 7 August from 1.34pm-1.40pm
- Woolworths, Glendale on Monday 9 August from 5.28pm-5.32pm
- Metro Petroleum, Tarro on Monday 2 August from 6.30am-6.35am
- R-Harn Thai Eatery, Jesmond on Monday 9 August from 5.35pm-6pm
- Blooms the Chemist, Stockland Green Hills on Friday 6 August from 12.45pm-1.06pm
- Woolworths, Stockland Green Hills on Friday 6 August from 1.06pm-1.11pm
- Coles, Stockland Green Hills on Friday 6 August from 1.15pm-1.20pm
- KFC, Stockland Green Hills Food Court on Friday 6 August from 1.20pm-1.30pm
- McDonalds, Charlestown Square on Thursday 5 August from 9am-9.05am
- Van Gool, Charlestown Square on Thursday 5 August from 12pm-12.10pm
- City Beach, Stockland Green Hills on Wednesday 4 August from 5pm-5.15pm
- Coles, Stockland Green Hills on Wednesday 4 August from 4.40pm-5pm
- Priceline, Stockland Green Hills on Wednesday 4 August from 4.54pm-5.14pm
- Kmart, Stockland Green Hills on Wednesday 4 August from 4.23pm-4.45pm
- City Beach, Charlestown Square on Thursday 5 August from 9am-2pm
- Blue Door, Newcastle (Hunter St) on Wednesday 4 August from 1.16pm-1.30pm
- Train: Teralba-Morisset on Saturday 7 August from 10.06am-10.30am
- Train: Morisset-Teralba on Saturday 7 August from 12pm-12.20pm
Second aged care outbreak
At 7.30am
Residents at a second Newcastle aged care facility have contracted Covid-19, after two staff members tested positive.
Anglican Care has confirmed two residents and another staff member at its Jesmond Grove home are Covid-positive, in addition to the staff member identified on Tuesday.
“The positive test (of the two residents and extra staff member) follows a facility-wide lockdown and mass testing after a staff member from Jesmond Grove tested positive,” Anglican Care said on its website.
“The positive resident cases have been transferred to John Hunter Hospital.
“Residents and families have been informed and we are continuing to provide care and support.”
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