Cases in Sydney continue to soar with 1,029 cases recorded to 8pm last night in NSW, the highest yet, and Dr Kerry Chant said they are likely to continue to rise for some time. As a result regional NSW will remain in lockdown for another two weeks, until 10 September.
‘We need everyone to do the right thing,’ said Dr Chant as she said that ‘the numbers may well go way above 1,000 cases’.
‘We cannot be complacent at the moment with our stretched system… The regional lockdown for two more weeks [will help] to reduce the bushfires [COVID cases] in the regions,’ she said.
Real estate prospecting back on
As the state has now reached the premier’s target of six million COVID 19 vaccinations, some public health orders have been eased, including a temporary ban on people leaving their LGAs in order to inspect prospective real estate purchases. This is of particular concern to areas like Northern Rivers who have been placed at risk by this provision previously.
Other lifting of restrictions include residents who live outside LGAs of concern being able to hold outdoor gatherings for up to five people from one household if all the adult members are fully vaccinated.
Testing under pressure
The advice remains that you should get tested if you have any symptoms however, the government admitted that they testing system is at its limit. The said that people who don’t have symptoms and haven’t been exposed or at risk should not get tested just to be sure. They also highlighted that businesses should not be tying up testing resources unnecessarily.
‘We are wanting to focus our testing resources on symptomatic people,’ said Dr Chant.
‘We want those testing [turnaround] times into a more manageable area.’
Return to school
Premier Berejiklian told the press conference that they ‘will be talking about safe return to school tomorrow’.
Recent stories, information and updates regarding COVID-19
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Life shows life expectancy in Australia has decreased slightly for the second year in a row. An international team of researchers has found more evidence that COVID-19 came from animals in a Wuhan food market. The lab-leak theory that Covid-19 came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology – instead of a nearby wet market – was thrashed about in public recently, with the US Senate Homeland Security Committee holding a hearing into Covid-19. Eighteen schools in the Northern Rivers division of Richmond have received $25,000 each as part of the federal government’s School Upgrade Fund, Labor Member for Richmond Justine Elliot said last week. COVID-19 reversed earlier trends toward longer life expectancies. During the pandemic, life expectancies globally dropped by 1.6 years according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal. Let’s not forget that Covid-19 is still a big issue in our community with 31,935 cases reported across Australia in the last week – an average of 4,562 cases per day. The Global Carbon Budget is about to be refreshed, giving the world a critical insight into how efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are (or are not) progressing. Masks will no longer be mandatory on public transport from tomorrow, Wednesday 21 September. SW Police are urging festival-goers at this weekend’s music festival to celebrate in a safe and responsible manner, whilst also being aware of COVID-Safety measures. The Northern NSW Local Health District reports that to 4pm yesterday, Sunday May 22, there were 40 COVID-19 positive patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with one of these in ICU.
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