NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has begged Sydneysiders not to visit family and friends after NSW recorded 38 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases.
Key points:
- Gladys Berejiklian says there are still too many people infectious in the community
- She's imploring people to only visit other households for compassionate reasons
- There are 40 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 11 in intensive care
It's the highest number of new infections the state has recorded in a 24-hour reporting period in 14 months.
Of the new cases, 21 are from south-west Sydney, prompting concerns of health authorities.
Ms Berejiklian said 11 of the new cases had been infectious for a number of days while out in the community.
"Those numbers are too high. We need to get those numbers down," Ms Berejiklian said.
She implored all Sydneysiders to stay at home and only visit other households for compassionate reasons, including dropping off essential goods or services.
"Please avoid contact with other households, please avoid visiting family and friends because you are not allowed to," she said.
"The saddest message out of all of that is that people with the virus are passing it on to those they love the most."
The source of 12 of the infections remained under investigation.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant said 40 cases were in hospital, including 17 people aged under 55 and 10 under 35 years.
Of those in hospital, 11 are in intensive care, including one aged in their 30s and three being ventilated.
Dr Chant said areas of most concern were in the Fairfield local government area and included Greenacre, Smithfield, West Hoxton Park, Bankstown and Roselands.
Of today's new cases, one is an aged care worker from SummitCare in Baulkham Hills who has received their first dose of Pfizer.
NSW Health said they went into isolation immediately upon discovering they were a close contact and there had been no further exposure to residents at the facility.
Five more cases linked to the Meriton Suites at Waterloo were reported to 8:00pm yesterday — all contacts of people who attended a party there.
Ms Berejiklian said the Delta variant had been a "game changer" in how communities had to deal with the outbreak.
And it highlighted the importance of people getting the vaccine as soon as they were eligible.
"There isn't anywhere on the planet that has managed to live with this variance … without having a proportion of the population vaccinated," she said.
"That is why it is so important for us … to make sure that people follow the health advice … and this is why New South Wales, from day one, has had a sense of urgency about the vaccination and getting a population vaccinated."
However, she said authorities were still aiming for the lockdown to end as planned on July 16, describing it as "an achievable date".
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Gary Worboys said police were patrolling key transport hubs to ensure Sydneysiders did not travel to regional parts of the state.
He also highlighted an incident at a Bunnings store in which a man chastised another man for not wearing a mask, before spitting on him.
Assistant Commissioner Worboys said police were seeking information to help identify that person.
There were 39,700 tests reported to 8:00pm last night, compared to the previous day's total of 45,000.
There was one overseas acquired case recorded in the latest reporting period.
There have been 396 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 since June 16.
Loading form...
NSW records 38 local COVID-19 cases, highest number in 14 months - ABC News
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment