The trend of falling COVID-19 numbers continued over the weekend with 348 new cases reported for Friday, 298 new cases for Saturday and 246 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Northern NSW Local Health District in the 24 hour period to 4pm yesterday, Sunday February 13.
Northern NSW Local Health District reported the death of one person aged in their 70s from COVID-19 from the Tweed area on Friday and one person aged in their 80s also from the Tweed area on Saturday.
Yesterday’s cases included people from Ballina 37, Byron 28, Clarence Valley 53, Kyogle 4, Lismore 27, Richmond Valley 22 and Tweed 75.
There are currently 43 COVID-19 positive patients in hospitals in Northern NSW, with three of these in ICU.
Dr Kerry Chant’s weekly update
Owing to the broadcast of the memorial service for Andrew Peacock and the attendance of many Liberal party folk at that event, the stats for Friday came out very late.
When Dr Kerry Chant eventually spoke to the media, she said that there were at the time 1,716 people in NSW hospitals, including 180 in ICU, and 48 of those were on ventilation.
For the week to Thursday, February 11, NSW Health recorded 141 deaths, 52 women and 89 men. ‘Five were in the age group 40 to 49, three were in the age group 50 to 59, 16 were in the age group 60 to 69, 34 were in the age group 70 to 79, 47 were in the age group 82 to 89, 35 were in the age group 90 to 99, and there was one person over 100 years of age,’ she said.
Dr Chant said that of the 141 deaths 32 were not vaccinated, two had one dose, 75 had two doses, and 32 had three doses.
‘Fifty-three of the deaths occurred in residents of aged care facilities – 11 were not vaccinated, one had received one dose, 23 had received two doses and 18 had received three doses. There were 10 deaths in those under 65 years of age, five in their 40s, three in their 50s and two in their early 60s.
‘We’ve been classifying and categorising information for medical records to better inform the public in the community about the risk factors associated with those deaths.
Dr Chant said she wanted to clarify that people might have multiple of these comorbidities – underlying health conditions.
‘Two of the people had diabetes, one had cardiac disease, four had chronic pulmonary disease, chronic lung disease (non-asthma), three had asthma, two had significant immunocompromised, two had significant renal disease, two had cancers, two had obstructive sleep apnea, and one had a chronic neurological condition.
‘Four were unvaccinated, our had two doses of vaccine and two had three doses of vaccine and two with the three doses had significant pre-existing comorbidities.’
Dr Chant said she wanted to re-emphasise that COVID is a serious disease across all age groups. ‘Continue to get tested and get linked to care. Beware of the signs your condition is worsening. We’ve got some really practical information on a fact sheet called Testing Positive for COVID Fact Sheet, So please Google that if you’ve got COVID. You should be sent when you get that notification, but I would urge everyone to get tested.
‘There are treatments available and it’s really important that people are linked to care. Notwithstanding as a public health person, I also enjoy seeing the data and the age distribution – but it’s really important that people get linked to care to get access to the antivirals and other therapies, and so they know where to escalate their concerns if their condition deteriorates.’
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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