In what is now a general press conference, the Premier spoke to media at 11am this morning outdoors in Western Sydney, about the pandemic and other business.
The Premier said she had to make some very important announcements – mostly about vaccination numbers.
‘New South Wales we’ve 82.2 per cent of first doses which is outstanding, and 52.7 per cent of second doses and of course once we get to that 70 per cent double dose number.
‘We’ll be able to enjoy all those things we’ve missed for far too long, pleasingly for 12 to 15-year-olds, 20 per cent have had their first dose of the vaccine given that was only made available about a week ago, that is an outstanding result.
‘Today I also want to say that although we can’t read too much into this pleasingly New South Wales has 935 cases of community transmission. Unfortunately, four people lost their lives and we extend our deepest condolences to those families and loved ones of those deceased.
We should expect the numbers to go up
The Premier said she wanted to note that even if case numbers go down, we should expect the number of people in intensive care and the number of people who lose their lives to go up.
’As we’ve said consistently, because we’ve had a number of cases in the last few weeks people ordinarily get very sick in the second week of the illness, and sometimes stay very sick for a long time. That’s why we need to continue to brace ourselves for October being the worst month for the number of people who pass away, and the number of people who need intensive care.
‘We should never lose sight of that no matter what else is happening in terms of the vaccination rate, or anything else that is the likely scenario in October, so we can’t be complacent because we know that unfortunately given what Delta does, if we’re too complacent too early, things can get out of control and that’s the last thing we want.
There have been no new cases in NNSWLHD reported to 8pm last night.
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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