NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant gave her weekly COVID-19 stats update this morning during Premier Dominic Perrottet’s press conference from the Wynyard Park bus interchange.
Dr Chant began by announcing the daily stats. ‘There are currently 2,737 people in hospital including 199 people in ICU, of whom 78 are ventilated. There were 13,333 positive tests returned in the 24 hours, including 7,077 positive rapid antigen tests and 6,256 Positive PCR tests. Those positive PCR tests were returned from 37,463 PCR tests.
‘I’m announcing that there are 35 people who sadly died of COVID in the last 24 hours – 20 men and 15 women. Of the 35 people who died one person was in their 40s, two people were in their 60s, six people were in their 70s, 11 were in the 80s, 14 people were in the 90s and one person was more than 100 years old.
Two-hundred and ten deaths in the last week
Dr Chant gave a summary of the deaths for the last week. ‘Of the 210 deaths in the last week – 192 were in people over the age of 65 years, 43 of those died in aged care facilities, 147 died at hospital and two died at home. Of those who died at home, there was a gentleman in his 60s and a gentleman in his 80s. One was not vaccinated and one had received two doses of the vaccine.
‘In terms of the 18 deaths that were reported in those under 65 years of age, one person was in their 30s, two people were in their 40s, 10 in their 50s and five in their early 60s.
Eight of those 18 individuals were not vaccinated. And the one person who died that did not have significant comorbidities was in that unvaccinated group. So eight were not vaccinated one had one dose eight had two doses, and only one had received three doses. So again, it stresses the importance of the booster dose for protecting you, but also protecting those around you.
Dominic Perrottet thanks health staff
With still no mention of the Greens’ proposed NurseKeeper payments, the Premier gave his usual daily heartfelt but non-bonus based gratitude to New South Wales health staff.
‘Everyone involved in our frontline health system is doing an amazing job after what has been a challenging two years – to continue to move through this phase and on behalf of everyone in our state, can I thank you all for the work and the support that you’re providing people in our health system throughout our state.
Mr Perrottet spoke about how the system is tracking in relation to hospitalizations and ICUs across the state. ‘It’s pleasing to say that we are tracking within capacity and in a positive trend as well. That obviously does not mean that our health system is not under pressure, like all health systems around the country and around the world, but there are some pleasing signs that continue to come through other modelling – particularly when you look at the best-case scenario that we put out a few weeks ago.
In addition to that, what is also providing greater support for the health system at this time – you might recall a few weeks ago, we had around 6,000 furloughed health workers across our state – that was putting a strain on the system – today, that figure is around 3,700, so we’re having many frontline health workers being able to return to to our health system to continue to provide that care and support for people who need it across our state.’
Northern NSW Local Health District
The Northern NSW Local Health District have reported that to 8pm yesterday, January 28, there were 574 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the District, including 230 positive PCR tests and 344 positive rapid antigen tests***
Sadly, today Northern NSW are reporting the death of two people from COVID-19. One person was from the Tweed Shire and in their 90s. One person was from the Ballina Shire in their 70s.
We express our sincere condolences to their loved ones.
There are 38 COVID-19 positive patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with 7 of these in ICU.
Local tests
Please note RATs are now included in the LGA breakdown.
Confirmed total cases by LGA (PCR and RATs)
- Ballina 67
- Byron 56
- Clarence Valley 84
- Kyogle 13
- Lismore 74
- Richmond Valley 36
- Tweed Heads 244
*** Please note these RAT results may be from within the previous seven days, and there may be some cases included in these numbers where people have reported positive RATs on multiple days and/or where people have also had a positive PCR test during the same reporting period.
For the most up-to-date COVID information visit nsw.gov.au.
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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