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NSW records 1284 more cases, 12 deaths as state announces new home quarantine trial
By Daniella White and Sarah McPhee
NSW has recorded a further 1284 COVID-19 cases and 12 new deaths, as the state announces a home quarantine trial for returned travellers.
Of the deaths, two people were in their 20s, three people were in their 50s, one person was in their 60s, two people were in their 70s, three people were in their 80s and one person was in their 90s.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Marianne Gale provide a COVID-19 update in Sydney’s Hyde Park. Credit: Rhett Wyman
Seven of the 12 people who died were not vaccinated, two people had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and three were fully vaccinated.
“Every day, the statistics are given out in detail, but behind every death is a family, a group of people who are mourning and our thoughts go to them,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday morning.
“It’s always difficult when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel to stay the course ... we really urge everybody to stick to the rules.
“There are opportunities for us to consider easing restrictions moving forward, but we really need everybody to stay the course.”
A woman in her 20s from western Sydney, who died at Nepean Hospital, had one dose of a vaccine and had underlying health conditions.
Another woman in her 20s, who died at Gosford Hospital, was a resident of the Life Without Barriers group home in Wyong, where she contracted the virus.
The home quarantine trial for travellers returning from overseas to Sydney will be launched in the coming weeks and will allow 175 people to isolate for seven days at home instead of in a hotel.
The participants will be selected by NSW Health and may include NSW residents, non-Australian residents and Qantas air crew.
The trial will run for four weeks and only include people who have received two doses of a TGA-approved vaccine.
A timeline for a wider rollout of home quarantine has not been established, but Ms Berejiklian said it would help reunite families before Christmas.
“We envisage things moving rapidly,” she said. “Certain assumptions are being made what the results will be. We will work very quickly to scale it up. We have shown our capacity to make a trial become reality very soon.”
NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said it was a critical step in phasing out hotel quarantine.
“This will build on the evidence collected through the South Australian trial as part of the national plan where we utilise technology, particularly facial recognition and location-based services apps on your phone, to allow police and health to continue to check in on a person during their home-based quarantine,” he said.
NSW hit the 50 per cent double-dose vaccination rate on Friday as the state inches closer to the threshold to reopen.
“It gives us heart that in some weeks, we’ll reach 70 per cent double dose and enjoy many more things than we can today and start to feel more normal about life at that stage,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Meanwhile, Sydney’s first drive-through COVID-19 vaccination clinic began taking patients on Friday morning with hopes it will boost inoculation rates in one of the worst-affected areas in the state.
A new drive-through vaccination clinic has opened at Belmore Sports Ground in Sydney’s west.Credit: Nick Moir
The facility will operate at the Belmore Sports Ground car park and will offer Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines to eligible people on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for the next six weeks.
Earlier this week, Belmore Medical GP Dr Jamal Rifi, who is leading the initiative, said the clinic was “only limited by the amount of vaccine” allocated and could operate seven days a week with state government assistance.
He hopes to be able to deliver up to 1000 jabs a day to people sitting in their cars.
People will be required to make bookings for the clinic through the Hotdoc website. It is the second drive-through vaccination clinic to operate in NSW after one opened in the regional city of Dubbo in August.
Dan Sweetman gets his jab at Belmore on Friday morning.Credit: Nick Moir
ATAGI recommended vaccinations be by appointment only at drive-through clinics, “due to the potentially large demand”, but said patients could be accepted without a booking if capacity allowed.
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