NSW has reached a grim new record, with 478 new infections and seven deaths as the Delta strain rips through the regions.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said today's 478 cases was a number that was "disturbingly high".
Read on for the latest NSW Covid news and updates.
You can find our Victorian Covid blog here.
Dr Chant has hit out at older Australians, revealing less than half of over 70s in NSW had received both jabs.
"It distresses me that the 70 plus second dose is still, from memory, only around 40-50 per cent," she said.
"We really need to get our second dose up as well as our first dose. We now have so many channels for accessing vaccines.
"We have pharmacies rolling out vaccines, we have GPs working so hard. GPs, even on Saturday, gave record volumes of vaccine."
The ACT has recorded 19 new cases overnight.
It brings the total number of active cases in Canberra to 28.
One of today's cases is a Lyneham High School student, who attended the campus for four days while infectious.
The ACT lockdown will now be extended until September 2 at the earliest.
#BREAKING: The ACT has recorded 19 new cases of #COVID19, taking the total number of active cases in #Canberra to 28
— ABC Canberra (@abccanberra) August 16, 2021
Of today's 478 new locally acquired cases, 141 are linked to a known case or cluster – 120 are household contacts and 21 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 337 cases is under investigation.
Just 97 cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 30 were in isolation for part of their infectious period, while 61 cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 290 remains under investigation.
Two new cases were acquired overseas in the 24 hours to 8pm last night and five previously reported cases were excluded following further investigation. This brings the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 13,789.
NSW CHO has shared details of the eight new Covid deaths the state has tragically recorded overnight.
They include an unvaccinated man in his 80s from south-western Sydney who died at Campbelltown Hospital, an unvaccinated man in his 40s from south-western Sydney who had "severe underlying health conditions" and a woman in her 70s from Sydney's northern suburbs who died at Royal North Shore Hospital.
An unvaccinated woman in her 80s from Sydney's inner west, who was a resident of the Wyoming residential aged care facility, also died at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, marking the third death linked to this cluster.
A man in his 70s from south-western Sydney who was a geriatric ward patient at Liverpool Hospital became the eighth death linked to that outbreak, and he had received one dose of the AZ vaccine.
An unvaccinated man in his 80s from south-western Sydney also died at Campbelltown Hospital with "a number of comorbidities that sadly contributed to his death", while an unvaccinated man in his 80s from Western Sydney died at Nepean Hospital with "severe underlying illness".
"There was a young boy tragically, a 15-year-old from south-western Sydney died at Sydney Children's Hospital," Dr Chant said.
"I can confirm that he died from pneumococcal meningitis and he was also a positive (Covid) case. He had been vaccinated against pneumococcal disease as a child."
It brings the death toll linked to the current outbreak to 112.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced 478 new cases today, a number she said was "disturbingly high".
It means the state has hit a grim new record, smashing Saturday's previous high of 466.
NSW recorded 478 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/RtVyEanPpr
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 16, 2021
It looks set to be another dismal day of high case numbers, with Sky's Andrew Clennell reporting infections could reach "around the 460 mark".
There were 415 new cases on Sunday, and 466 on Saturday, which was the worst day so far in the current outbreak.
But unfortunately, Mr Celennell predicts today's numbers will set a new Covid "record".
So not as high as 500 but a record https://t.co/tJMsIFxfAL
— Andrew Clennell (@aclennell) August 15, 2021
Scott Morrison has appeared on ABC News Breakfast to discuss a range of topics, including NSW's unfolding Delta crisis.
He said it has "never been the goal to get to zero Covid" and that the country had embarked on a "suppression strategy".
"And right now, we're in phase A of that national plan of hope," he said. "That's the plan of hope that Australians are looking to, to achieve those 70 per cent targets.
"We have one in four Australian fully vaccinated this week. One in two Australians will hit the mark who have got the first dose."
Mr Morrison was then questioned over WA Premier Mark McGowan's shock announcement he'll hold the right to shut his borders even once Australia reaches 70 to 80 per cent vaccination.
His stance contradicts the National Cabinet agreement to reopen once that target is met.
The PM said National Cabinet had agreed on that point on several occasions.
"On the first occasion that in phase B of that plan, we have moved from managing cases to managing serious illness and hospitalisation," he said.
"That's when you hit 70 per cent. That's when people who are vaccinated would be exempted from various restrictions that's when you allow more student and other coming into the country to support our economy.
"And in that plan, that's when you're managing hospitalisation and you start saying goodbye to lockdowns in phase B. And in phase D – you can really say goodbye to them.
"Right now, we're in the first phase and that is suppress and vaccinate. And the vaccination program now is hitting rates of vaccination of 1.5 million a week."
NSW residents are waking up to even tighter restrictions today after the official launch of Operation Stay Home.
Hundreds of ADF troops have joined forces with police officers to enforce the new rules, which include staggering on-the-spot fines for Covid rule breakers.
It comes after 415 new cases were recorded yesterday along with four new deaths, with NSW now in the midst of a statewide lockdown.
Yesterday, Ms Berejiklian all but admitted defeat against the current outbreak, claiming it was no longer possible to eliminate the Delta strain.
The Delta strain's terrifying spread through regional NSW has ramped up again, with a new area added to NSW Health's exposure sites list.
The NSW Central West is now on high alert after a Subway restaurant in Bathurst, two cafes in Orange and two in Mudgee were added to the alarming list overnight, with close contacts urged to get tested immediately.
The alert is targeted to anyone who visited Bathurst Subway on Saturday, August 7 from 12.50pm-1.30pm, Orange's Village Bakehouse from 10.50am-12.10pm and Byng Street Cafe from 12.50pm-1.10pm on Sunday, August 8 and the Mudgee Bakery & Cafe from 9.10am-9.45am on Monday, August 9 and Mudgee Muffin Break from 9.15am-9.20am on Wednesday, August 11.
It comes as UNSW professor of epidemiology Mary-Louise McLaws told the ABC this morning the virus was still "spreading" throughout regional NSW.
"It is spreading across into regions," she said
"You have to ask why we didn't have that ring of steel to stop people from moving around."
⚠️PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – NEW VENUES OF CONCERN⚠️
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 15, 2021
NSW Health has been notified of new venues of concern across NSW, which are associated with confirmed cases of COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/ChWI7fgfMs
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