Coronavirus Australia: NSW records 239 new local cases as Queensland records nine

The West Australian
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Camera IconNSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard speaks with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian during a COVID-19 update and press conference in Sydney. Credit: LISA MAREE WILLIAMS/AAPIMAGE

Residents in NSW have been urged to get vaccinated as the state’s COVID-19 cases continue to spread across households, around workplaces and into aged care facilities.

There were 239 locally acquired cases recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, 115 linked to a known case or cluster while 92 are household contacts and 23 are close contacts. The source of infection for 124 cases is under investigation.

NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty confirmed that four of the 14 people who have died in this current outbreak did so in their homes and not at a hospital.

The 14th death, recorded on Saturday, was a man in his 60s who died at home in southwest Sydney.

“The message is don’t wait, if you have any even mild symptoms, come forward for testing right away,” Dr McAnulty said. “Don’t wait.”

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There are currently 222 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital in NSW. Of these, 54 people are in intensive care, 25 of whom require ventilation.

Dr McAnulty also confirmed there were multiple aged care facilities across Sydney where staff and residents had been infected including nine residents at an aged care facility in Summer Hill in the city’s inner-west.

“As I understand it, the ones with vaccination are doing relatively well,” he said.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said lockdown was “damn hard” but the strategy was to get vaccination rates up to 80 per cent.

“That means we can live with the Delta variant and we won’t have to go in and out of lockdown,” the premier said.

Camera IconFather Bob Maguire receives his second COVID-19 vaccination at Albert Park Medical Centre, Melbourne, Wednesday, July 28, 2021 (AAP Image/Pool, Sarah Matray) NO ARCHIVING Credit: AAPIMAGE

She urged all adults to come forward and get vaccinated and said in the previous 24 hours more than 82,000 people in NSW had been vaccinated.

“At that rate we are vaccinating 500,000 of people per week,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian said the new cases were contained to the eight Sydney local government areas of concern.

“We are again seeing the virus circulating in workplaces and in homes,” she said.

Earlier on Sunday NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said authorities would keep harsher lockdown measures in specific areas despite calls to expand certain rules for all of Sydney.

The Australian Medical Association President Dr Omar Khorshid called for travel limits within a five kilometre radius from home and outdoor mask wearing rules to be extended beyond eight local government areas.

“We’re trying to strike a balance and I think the balance is appropriate,” Mr Hazzard told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

When asked about his previous comments that some Sydney families were turning up to hospitals with a COVID-19 infected relative who is “not alive but dead” the minister said he would not go into the “personal circumstances” of the latest death.

“All I’ll say is that there was broad infection in the family and there was no effort to get to health authorities, as I understand it, until it was too late,“ Mr Hazzard said.

Mr Hazzard said there was a reluctance for large “refugee family groups” where there are few income earners to come forward to health authorities.

There were 87,712 COVID-19 tests reported to 8pm on Saturday night.

Greater Sydney and surrounding regions are in lockdown until at least August 28.

QLD RECORDS HIGHEST NUMBER OF DAILY INFECTIONS IN ALMOST 12 MONTHS

Queensland has recorded nine new local COVID-19 cases as the state’s southeast endures its first full day of lockdown.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles on Saturday said all nine cases uncovered on Saturday were connected to the Indooroopilly cluster.

It was the highest number of daily infections in almost 12 months.

The Indooroopilly cluster now numbers at least 18 people and Mr Miles implored more Queenslanders to seek virus testing.

“We did 11,468 tests in the last 24 hours. Our message is simple - that is not enough tests. We need more Queenslanders, particularly in the southeast, to get tested,” Mr Miles told reporters.

Mr Miles declared a “go hard, go early” response to the outbreak on Saturday after six new cases were linked to a high school student.

The local government areas of Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim entered the harshest restrictions the sunshine state has seen at 4pm on Saturday.

The lockdown will last for at least three days.

Residents in affected areas can only leave home for essential work, study or child care, to exercise, buy food and supplies, and receive healthcare, including being tested for COVID-19 or vaccinated.

Non-essential travel must be within 10km of residences and everyone must wear a mask when outside their home.

All schools in the lockdown zone will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, while all staff and students of Indooroopilly High School and Ironside State School are in quarantine for two weeks.

Other schools affected by the outbreak include St Peters, Brisbane Girls Grammar School and Brisbane Boys Grammar School.

Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young suspects an infected medical student could be the index case of the outbreak and likely brought the virus into an Indooroopilly High School student’s home.

NO NEW CASES IN WA

There have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in WA overnight.

The State’s total remains at 1057.

There are now 10 active COVID-19 cases being monitored by WA Health: two in hospital from the MV Darya Krishna; one in hotel quarantine from MV Darya Krishna; the six onboard the MV Darya Krishna and one onboard the MV BBC California.

One MV Darya Krishna crew member remains in ICU in a stable condition. One remains in a stable condition on a respiratory ward, and one is in a SHICC hotel.

To date, 1038people have recovered from the virus in WA.

WA Health will continue to monitor a Queensland report of a man who travelled from Brisbane and arrived in Perth by plane on 18 July. The man, who tested negative to COVID-19 at Perth Airport, did not have approval to enter Western Australia and returned to Queensland aboard a flight on the morning of 20 July. He tested positive to COVID-19 on 27 July.

VICTORIA RECORDS FOUR NEW LOCAL CASES OF COVID

Victoria has recorded four new locally acquired COVID-19 cases.

All are linked to the state’s current outbreaks and all were in quarantine throughout their infectious period.

Health officials say Victoria administered 15,841 vaccine doses in the 24 hours to Saturday evening and processed 25,779 virus test results.

The numbers follow two cases reported on Saturday, one quarantined during their infectious period and the other a colleague of a Melbourne testing site worker at Moonee Valley Racecourse who was briefly in the community before isolating.

Health Minister Martin Foley said on Saturday the fellow traffic controller shared a lift after work with the first, whose diagnosis was confirmed this week.

“He (the second traffic controller) was isolated as soon as he was identified as close contact and didn’t have much time in the community,” he said.

He visited Devon Plaza shopping centre in Doncaster on July 28, so anyone there between 10.20 and 11.25 should isolate and get tested, he said.

Authorities were still investigating how the first Moonee Valley worker contracted the virus.

Initial results from genomic testing have linked the case to the outbreak at Maribyrnong’s Ariele apartment complex sparked by a crew of NSW removalists.

Camera IconPeople are seen crossing a road in South Yarra, Melbourne, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Credit: DANIEL POCKETT/AAPIMAGE

However as of Saturday no origin for the Frankston man’s infection with the Delta strain had been established.

He visited his partner at a Newport apartment building while infectious and it is a close contact of this person who was the second positive case recorded on Saturday.

Victoria is living under relaxed restrictions since coming out of its fifth lockdown, however private gatherings are not yet permitted and strict mask- wearing applies.

STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN

NSW - 239 new cases

VIC - four new cases

QLD - nine new cases

SA - TBA

WA - no new cases

ACT - TBA

NT - TBA

TAS - TBA

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