NSW records 390 new virus cases and two deaths as infections spike in Dubbo

Another 390 new cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in NSW as infections spike rapidly in a regional town 400km from Sydney.

NSW has recorded 390 new cases and two deaths as the state’s Covid outbreak continues to escalate, with infections now soaring in a town hundreds of kilometres from Sydney.

There are fears for the Dubbo community after eight new infections were recorded to 8pm and two were also reported in Walgett before the cut off period.

NSW Deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale confirmed the new infections.

“It is an evolving situation,” she said.

“We are carefully monitoring it and we do expect to see more cases emerge.”

However, the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian earlier eluded to the fact more cases may have come through after 8pm having said there were 25 new cases in western NSW.

But Dr Gale clarified while that was the case, they were unsure on the exact number but anticipated it to be about 22 cases in total, including those reporting on Friday.

More cases have popped up in regional areas. Picture: NCA Newswire /Gaye Gerard

“The premier is right, hence, as I mentioned it is an evolving situation in the district. We are seeing further cases come through,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian described the situation in Dubbo as a “big challenge”.

The new deaths include a woman in her 40s who was found dead at her Cabramatta home overnight.

Of the new cases, at least 60 were infectious in the community, the premier said.

“I anticipate that given the large number of cases we have had in the last few days, unfortunately this trend will continue for at least the next few days,” she said.

“It means all of us have to work harder to make sure we follow the rules.”

A man in his 90s from the NSW Hunter Region who was in palliative care has also died.

More than 120,000 people turned out to get tested in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

Of the new cases, 140 were linked to a known case or cluster with 118 household contacts and 22 close contacts but 250 infections remain a mystery.

Fragments of Covid have been detected in the sewage systems in Tamworth, Bomaderry, Bathurst, Parkes and Bourke.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said this trend could continue for days to come. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

The Tamworth plant serves 45,000 people while the Bomaderry sewage treatment plant serves 18,000 people on the south coast.

Bathurst serves 36,600 people, Parkes serves 11,600 people and Bourke serves 2000 people in western NSW.

Meanwhile NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing said in the past 24 hours, officers had issued 404 infringement notices and 41 people had been charged with breaches of the public health order.

“It‘s simply unbelievable at this point in the current crisis that people are still flouting the rules,” he said.

Mr Williams revealed two women, aged 20 and 21, had been charged with breaching the public health orders by travelling to the Newcastle area about two weeks ago. “Police will be alleging that both of those women have a history of non-compliance

with the public health orders,“ he said.

“I’ve got to say that people travelling to regional areas from greater Sydney are putting regional communities at risk.

NSW recorded 390 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/0knksHe0Uc

— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 13, 2021

“If we don’t catch you during our compliance operations - which is highly likely given the amount of resources that are out there on our roads and in our communities, trying to find people in breach of public health orders - we will do so through our investigations.”

Overnight, police responded to about 1100 Crime Stoppers reports.

In the past 24 hours, police had also conducted more than 1800 welfare compliance checks, checking on more than 3000 people.

“The advice I've received this morning is that all of those people were in compliance with the public health orders, so thank you to those people,” Mr Williams said.