Newcastle Airport declared Covid-19 exposure site as NSW records 222 new local infections

NSW has reached a huge vaccine milestone after recording 222 new cases of coronavirus and four more deaths.

Just over 90 per cent of NSW residents aged 16 and up have now received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The figures released on Tuesday afternoon mark a major milestone in the jab rollout, and also show more than 94 per cent of eligible people in NSW have received at least one dose.

When the state hits 95 per cent fully vaccinated, unvaccinated residents will be able to enjoy the same freedoms as those who are jabbed.

A report released by NSW Health on Monday showed data collected during the state’s Delta outbreak that unvaccinated people were 16 times more likely to die or end up in hospital if they contracted the disease.

NSW vaccination rate has hit 90 per cent fully vaxxed. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

It came after NSW recorded 222 new local coronavirus cases as sections of a regional airport was declared an exposure site.

People who were at Newcastle Airport on Monday and Wednesday last week were asked to get tested for coronavirus and self-isolate until receiving a negative result.

NSW Health said an infected person had visited the check-in hall, security screening and departure lounge facilities on Monday, November 1 between 1.13pm and 2pm.

On November 3, an infected person had visited the arrivals hall and male toilets shortly after 1pm.

NSW #COVID19 update – Tuesday 9 November 2021

In the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm last night:

- 93.9% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 89.9% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 66,680 tests pic.twitter.com/kuSNde7IhI

— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) November 8, 2021

NSW Health has stopped listing most exposure sites in metropolitan Sydney – where most coronavirus transmission events have taken place – to focus instead on virus exposure in the regions.

“Outside of metropolitan Sydney ... close and casual contact venues assessed as a public health risk outside of metropolitan Sydney will continue to be listed,” the health department said.

There are 254 people in hospital with Covid-19, including 42 in the ICU.

NSW has also recorded another four deaths.

The dead included a 90-year-old woman from Albury, who acquired her infection at the Mercy Place aged care facility.

The woman was unvaccinated and the ninth person to die as a result of a coronavirus outbreak at the aged care home.

Two of the other people who died were aged in their 80s and one person was in their 50s.