NSW sees surge in new cases and deaths

An expert has pointed to a glimmer of hope after New South Wales broke another record for Covid cases and deaths today.

New South Wales has recorded 1431 new locally-acquired cases overnight and 12 deaths — with the premier warning the peak will come in the next fortnight.

“The next fortnight is likely to be our worst in terms of the number of cases, but as I have said it is not the number of cases we need to be focusing on but how many of those cases end up in our intensive care wards and hospitals and how many people we have vaccinated,” Gladys Berejiklian said.

Despite the rise in cases, epidemiologist Professor Adrian Esterman says the reproductive rate of the Covid in NSW is remaining steady, and not increasing.

His predictions have been fairly accurate so far, and he says the state should hit 2000 cases a day by September 10.

This live blog has now ended. Read below for the main updates from the day.

UK sending us four million Pfizer doses

Scott Morrison says they are on their way now and they will be shared among the states on a per capita basis.

He says this is a doubling of the doses available in September.

“This will enable us to bring forward significantly the opportunity for Australia to open up again under the national plan,” he said.

“The bring forward of these doses I think should be a great cause for hope right around the country. The doses will be distributed across the states and territories on a per capita basis so they can all get on with it.”

Hospital plan to be revealed next week

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Gladys Berejiklian said she will be publishing details of the state’s hospital surge and ICU capacity online next week.

She said all available modelling indicated September and October would be the most challenging months for the state’s hospital system.

“I want to make very clear that every day there are models that are presented from within the experts we have in NSW, but also externally from non-government organisations,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“And nobody is going to get the exact figure right, no one is going to get the exact day right, but I have been very open with the information I have.”

Hope as vaccination rates soar

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at least 120,000 more people got vaccinated in the last 24 hours.

“In the past week more than 827,000 people in NSW have come forward to get vaccinated,” the Premier said.

“This rolling average we have consistently in NSW gives us heart and hope that around the middle of October we will see 70 per cent of our adult population fully vaccinated.”

The silver lining in today’s case numbers

Epidemiologist Professor Adrian Esterman says the reproductive rate of the Covid in NSW is remaining steady, and not increasing, despite an increase in cases today.

His predictions have been fairly accurate so far, and he says the state should hit 2000 cases a day by September 10.

Another 1431 (sorry - said 1421 in previous tweet) cases for NSW, and 12 deaths. The 5-day moving average had jumped again from 1146 to 1203, but the Reff is steady at 1.1. My forecast for today was 1401, so still pretty accurate. We should be hitting 2,000 by 10 September.

— Professor Adrian Esterman FACE (@profesterman) September 3, 2021

Where the new cases were found

Of the 1431 locally acquired cases reported to 8pm last night:

• 508 are from South Western Sydney LHD,

• 424 are from Western Sydney Local Health District,

• 152 are from Sydney LHD,

• 102 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD,

• 95 are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD,

• 53 are from Western NSW LHD,

• 32 are from Northern Sydney LHD,

• 13 are from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD,

• 13 are in correctional settings,

• 11 are from Hunter New England LHD,

• Eight are from Central Coast LHD

• Seven are from Far West LHD,

• One is from Southern NSW LHD,

• 12 cases are yet to be assigned to an LHD.

More details on hospitalisations and deaths

There are currently 979 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 160 people in intensive care, 63 of whom require ventilation.

NSW Health has been notified of the deaths of twelve people who had Covid.

• A woman in her 30s from south western Sydney died at home on 1 September. Investigations are underway into the source of her infection.

• A man in his 70s from south eastern Sydney died at St George Hospital. He was a resident of St George Aged Care Facility in Bexley and acquired his infection there.

• A woman in her 70s from south western Sydney died at Westmead hospital, where she acquired her infection.

• A woman in her 80s from south western Sydney died at Westmead Hospital.

• A man in his 80s from south western Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital.

• A man in his 70s from south western Sydney died at Concord Hospital.

• A woman in her 70s from south western Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital.

• A woman in her 70s from south western Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital.

• A man in his 70s from Sydney’s north died at Hornsby Hospital.

• A woman in her 60s from south western Sydney died at Liverpool hospital.

• A man in his 70s from south western Sydney died at St George Hospital.

• A man in his 90s from the Blue Mountains died at the Hawkesbury Living Aged Care Facility.

NSW records 1431 local cases and 12 deaths

The state has recorded 1431 new locally-acquired cases overnight and 12 deaths.

“As I have said previously, the best health advice I have is that we anticipate a peak in cases in the next fortnight,” the premier said.

“The next fortnight is likely to be our worst in terms of the number of cases, but as I have said it is not the number of cases we need to be focusing on but how many of those cases and up in our intensive care wards and hospitals and how many people we have vaccinated.”

Sydney construction site stung $13,500

A construction site in Sydney’s east has been temporarily shut down and slapped with a $13,500 fine after breaching multiple Covid-19 public health orders.

Police stopped to speak with three workers at the Bronte Rd site in Waverley who weren’t wearing face masks about 11am on Thursday and discovered the men were all from Sydney’s local government areas of concern.

Read more

Victoria records 208 new cases

Of the 208 locally acquired cases, 96 have been linked to known cases and outbreaks. Further information will be provided this morning.

Reported yesterday: 208 new local cases and 1 case acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
- 33,511 vaccines administered
- 48,572 test results received
- Sadly, 1 person with COVID-19 has died

More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W
[1/2] pic.twitter.com/ATJElwPMH3

— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) September 2, 2021

Woman wanted for gross act at protest

Police want to speak with this woman in relation to the incident.

Police officers were forced to “decontaminate” themselves after a protester’s gross actions at a Covid demonstration on NSW’s Far North Coast.

Police said officers went to Knox Park at Murwillumbah on Tuesday in response to unauthorised protest activity.

They said that, during the arrest of a woman, the crowd became hostile towards police, attempting to obstruct officers.

A second woman approached them and sprayed an unknown substance in the face of two officers.

“This caused an immediate burning sensation for the officers, and the woman left,” NSW Police said. “Neither officer required hospital treatment and decontaminated themselves.”

Police have released an image of a woman who may be able to assist with their inquiries.

The woman depicted is described as being of Caucasian appearance, with brown shoulder length hair. She is wearing a light-coloured cardigan and a pink patterned dress.

Bunnings to reopen Sydney stores

24 stores will reopen to the general public. NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Bunnings will reopen dozens stores across Sydney on Monday.

But franchises located in 12 local government areas of concern will remain closed to the general public and only accessible to tradies and for click and collect or drive and collect.

The hardware giant made the announcement on Thursday and said 24 of its stores would reopen to retail customers, allowing them to walk inside again.

Read more.

Half a million Pfizer doses land in Australia

Half a million Pfizer vaccine doses have landed in Sydney from Singapore as part of a “vaccine swap deal” between the two countries.

The Pfizer doses from Singapore will expire soon have been sent here so they can be rolled out across the country,

In exchange, the federal government will send half a million Pfizer vaccines back to Singapore in December, when Australia is expected to have ample supplies.

The extra vaccines will be distributed evenly around the country, the federal government says.

Big change to contact tracing shows new era

New South Wales is preparing to gut most of its current contact tracing system in favour of an app that will automatically alert residents when they’ve been exposed to Covid.

It marks a major shift in the way the state thinks about the virus as it makes early preparations to open up slowly when it reaches its 70 per cent vaccination target.

It means NSW Health can slash the number of contact tracers on the ground investigating cases.

NSW is preparing to open up once vaccination targets are hit. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The system was once dubbed the “gold standard” by prime minister Scott Morrison, but the Delta outbreak has seen it totally overwhelmed by the sheer number of cases.

The new app system will have an alert function that will trigger an automatic notification for people who have checked in to a venue that is later identified as a venue of concern.

The alert will also be listed in the app’s check-in history. It will be included in an update of the app in late September.

The move comes as the state prepares to open up.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday said reaching seven million jabs gave health authorities confidence to relax outdoor exercise restrictions in the areas of concern, removing the one-hour limit in place for the past two weeks.

“We want people to get fresh air, especially as the weather is warming up. And where we can, we want everybody in NSW to move forward together,” she said.