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Watch live: NSW and Victoria’s COVID-19 updates
By Broede Carmody
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant are due to provide the state’s coronavirus update at the usual time of 11am AEST.
Watch live below.
Meanwhile, Victoria has opted to have its daily COVID-19 update at the same time.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton is due to address the media shortly.
Fifty-three people in ICU, NSW CHO calls vaccination rates in elderly ‘tragic’
By Mary Ward
There are 53 cases in intensive care units in NSW, the state’s Chief Health Officer has revealed, including 43 people who have not received a single dose of vaccine.
“I think this underscores the severity of COVID and our data indicates that we are seeing more hospitalisations associated with the Delta strain,” Kerry Chant said at today’s press conference.
The intensive care cases include five people aged in their 20s, six in their 30s, three in their 40s, 18 in their 50s, 11 in their 60s and 10 in their 70s.
“My big callout is to get vaccinated, across all of the age groups,” Dr Chant said.
“I look at the vaccine coverage data every night, which is on the Commonwealth website, and it really is quite tragic that we’ve got still people in their 90s that are unprotected – people in their 80s, 70s and 60s.”
There are 250 people in hospital with COVID-19 in NSW.
Ten COVID-19 patients now in Victorian hospitals
By David Estcourt
There are 10 cases in hospital linked to Victoria’s Delta coronavirus outbreak, says Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
“Unfortunately, 10 cases are now in hospital. That includes three in intensive care and one on a ventilator,” he said.
Professor Sutton said compliance teams continued to visit Victorians isolating.
“Our household engagement teams visited 525 people yesterday, 501 of those were close contacts, and they continue to see very high compliance with those visits,” he said.
“Over 90 per cent of primary close contacts have now been cleared in this outbreak.
“A huge thanks to everyone who is doing their quarantine at home ... we’re seeing every single day that our new cases are in primary close contacts who’ve had their entire infectious period, out of the community.”
He said there were more than 22,000 tests processed yesterday.
“Again, 99% of test results returned by the next day,” he said.
NSW records 199 locally acquired cases
By Mary Ward
NSW has reported 199 new local coronavirus cases on Tuesday, as the state hit 3.9 million vaccine doses.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was concern about vaccination rates in the eight local government areas under tighter restrictions in Sydney’s west and south-west.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian arrives at this morning’s COVID-19 update. Credit:Nick Moir
“It’s really critical to have our communities in those eight local government areas take up the opportunity for vaccination,” she said, noting her 50 per cent vaccination goal to ease restrictions in Greater Sydney on August 29 would mean 6 million shots would need to be administered by the end of the month.
She said the government was “keen to explore” opportunities to encourage vaccination.
The Premier said COVID-19 was continuing to circulate among households and essential workplaces in those areas.
“So we urge people, if you must leave the house, assume everybody has the virus,” she said.
“It is still concentrating within those eight local government areas of concern, but please know that if you live in adjoining communities ... please be extra, extra careful. Don’t go into those eight local government areas unless absolutely necessary.”
NSW Chief Health Officer particularly called out Strathfield, Burwood, Camden, Inner West, Penrith and Bayside local government areas, noting the virus “has the ability to creep”.
There were 104,000 tests processed in the 24 hours to 8pm Monday.
Do you support Labor’s $300 vaccine payments?
By Broede Carmody
McDonald’s says incorrect restaurant named on NSW’s list of exposure sites
By Sarah McPhee
McDonald’s has provided a clarification after it says one of its fast food restaurants in Sydney’s north-west was incorrectly named by NSW Health as a COVID-19 exposure site.
Yesterday, state health authorities said McDonald’s Castle Hill was a venue of concern on Wednesday, July 28 between 6.15pm and 6.25pm.
The venue fell under the casual contact banner, requiring anyone in attendance during the relevant times to get tested immediately and isolate until being advised of a negative result.
However, McDonald’s has since clarified the exposure site is in fact McDonald’s Castle Towers, Shop 1222, Level 1, Castle Towers Shopping Centre, 6-14 Castle Street, Castle Hill.
The venues are both in the suburb of Castle Hill but are about 500 metres apart.
The fast food chain says it has asked NSW Health to correct the listing on its website, which as of this morning included the correct address but incorrect name.
Additional 150,000 AstraZeneca doses for Qld amid growing outbreak
By Felicity Caldwell
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has thanked the Commonwealth for offering 150,000 extra AstraZeneca doses to the state.
Ms D’Ath said GPs had received an “enormous amount of calls” in the past 24 hours from people keen to get an AstraZeneca shot but some doctors were now worried they would run out of vaccines.
“If there is supply available, we will work to get that for them,” she said.
“This is really important, because we’ve had a 4 per cent increase in vaccination doses over the last 24 hours, which is incredible.
“But of our 60-year-old to 69 age group, less than 20 per cent have had their second dose ... just over 42 per cent of 70-plus have had their second dose.”
Ms D’Ath said she wanted any GP on the National Immunisation Program to be eligible to deliver AstraZeneca.
“Every GP or pharmacist who is eligible to deliver a flu shot today should be eligible to deliver the AstraZeneca,” she said.
Sydney’s Summer Hill aged care cluster grows to 21
By Mary Ward
Another resident at an aged care home in Sydney’s inner west has tested positive to COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections associated with the facility to 21.
Wyoming aged care facility at Summer Hill has confirmed in a statement that a 19th resident who lived on the top floor of the home had returned a positive test. The resident, who is vaccinated, had already been transferred to hospital, along with the 13 other residents on the floor who had been testing negative.
Summer Hill’s Wyoming aged care facility as residents were moved to hospital on Monday.Credit:Louie Douvis
The virus was introduced into the facility by an assistant in nursing, contracted by an agency, who worked across three facilities. There are now two cases in staff members at the Summer Hill site.
Yesterday, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said surge workforces, such as agency nurses, were exempt from requirements that aged care staff only work at a single site.
Wyoming’s operator, Hardi Aged Care, said it had implemented a “strict” policy last year which required permanent staff at its facilities to only work at one site.
Watch live: WA’s COVID-19 update
By Broede Carmody
WA Premier Mark McGowan and Health Minister Roger Cook are providing a coronavirus update.
Watch live below.
ADF to continue discussions with NSW community leaders amid lockdown support
By Nick Bonyhady
The brigadier in charge of 300 Australian Defence Force troops who have been drafted into Sydney’s coronavirus response has vowed to keep speaking to community leaders in western Sydney to head off concerns from some that the deployment of the armed forces may do more harm than good by scaring residents.
Brigadier Mick Garraway said he had met with NSW imams via Zoom on Sunday for an hour and would have more meetings with other groups in future.
Brigadier Mick Garraway. Credit:Wolter Peeters
The brigadier was repeatedly pressed by the ABC’s Fran Kelly about whether statements from the NSW Police Minister David Elliott that there would be “soldiers on the street” were helpful but declined to comment.
“Messaging is really outside my lane,” brigadier Garraway said.
His personnel would be in logistical and contact tracing roles, he added, though he acknowledged some would be on the street in teams with a police officer.
“We’re not patrolling the streets,” he insisted.
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Australia news LIVE: NSW records 199 new local COVID-19 cases; Queensland records 16 new cases - The Sydney Morning Herald
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