The majority of new COVID-19 cases in the Northern NSW Health District (NNSWHD) were in the Byron Shire in the 24 hours to 8pm December 28.
Byron Shire saw 100 new cases followed by Tweed Shire with 51, Ballina Shire with 30, Lismore Shire with 19, Clarence Valley Shire with eight, and both Richmond Valley and Kyogle Shires with four each according to the NNSWHD.
‘Thirteen of those cases are being treated in hospital, with two of those in the ICU,’ they stated on their website.
Current cases
Overall NSW has seen 11,201 new cases with 61 people currently in ICU according to the COVID live website.
COVID Live states that Byron Shire currently has 1,017 active cases while Tweed Shire has 223, Ballina Shire 252, Lismore Shire 209, Clarence Valley Shire 188, both Richmond Valley Shire 48, and Kyogle Shire 33 active cases.
‘People are being urged to get tested for COVID-19 at the first sign of symptoms and isolate until a negative result is received,’ a spokesperson for the NNSWHD said.
‘All Northern NSW hospital testing clinics are operating under usual operating hours over the holiday period. Clinics run by other organisations may have different hours in the holiday period, so please check their websites first.’
‘If you do not have symptoms, it is advised to take a rapid antigen test as an additional precaution before going out, particularly if socialising in groups of people or anywhere it may be difficult to socially distance. Information on how to use rapid antigen tests is available on the NSW Government website.’
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