New South Wales has reported 1,164 new local COVID-19 cases and three further deaths as it is revealed two-thirds of the state’s eligible population has now received at least one vaccine shot.
The caseload in the 24 hours to 8pm Monday represents the fourth in a row where case numbers have been above 1,000.
The new deaths include a woman in her 50s from southwest Sydney, a man in his 80s from the city of Sydney, and a man in his 90s from southwest Sydney.
The COVID-19 death toll in NSW since the start of the latest outbreak is now 96.
NSW Health said it administered 47,429 COVID-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm Monday.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Tuesday that 67 per cent of NSW residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
"We want to get to the magic 70 per cent and 80 per cent as quickly as possible," she told reporters in Sydney, referencing the threshold at which restrictions will be eased.
She said if the numbers continued at their current rate, 70 per cent of eligible people in NSW could be fully vaccinated by mid-October.
"If you are a business, make sure your employees are vaccinated. If you are a citizen make sure yourself, your families, loved ones and friends are vaccinated," she said.
"That's our ticket to freedom."
Of the new cases, 417 were detected in the Western Sydney Local Health District and 379 were from the South Western Sydney LHD.
The Far West LHD reported four new infections, all of which are in Wilcannia, with another 54 in the Western NSW LHD.
'Certain responsibilities'
An Aboriginal man in Dubbo was announced on Monday as the first person to die from COVID-19 in the current outbreak in western New South Wales.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Tuesday it would have been "preferable" if Aboriginal communities across NSW had been vaccinated earlier.
"The issue across all of the Aboriginal community is that the federal government had certain responsibilities at the outset," he told reporters.
"The fact that [a higher vaccination rate] has not been achieved is obviously disappointing, but NSW Health, as have each of the other states and territory public health units, have stepped up to try and assist them."
"We'll continue to do that."
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard addresses media during a press conference in Sydney, Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
AAP
Mr Hazzard said he had been trying to get approvals to have additional accommodation be made available in Wilcannia to allow the separation of people who have COVID-19 from those who do not.
"We can either look back and say what we should have done, and we can spend our energy on that, or we can spend their energy on trying to make sure that it gets fixed as best as possible for the Indigenous community, particularly in northwestern New South Wales," he said.
While there has been a jump in the number of vaccines administered to the region's Indigenous residents - it has almost doubled in the past three weeks - the rate still lags behind the region's broader population.
Just 6.3 per cent of Indigenous people western NSW are fully vaccinated, compared with 26 per cent of the general population.
The majority of cases - 65 per cent - have been diagnosed among people of Aboriginal descent.
Forty-three new new cases of COVID-19 were also reported at Parklea Correctional Centre, bringing the total number of cases since 18 August to 75, including one healthcare worker.
"The prison is in lockdown and appropriate public health action is occurring," Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant told reporters.
"There is vaccination going into the prison, there is infection control practitioners on-site, clinical care from a virtual model supported by St Vincent's Health."
There are currently 871 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 143 people in intensive care and 58 of whom require ventilation.
SBS is providing live translations of daily New South Wales and Victoria COVID-19 press conferences in various languages. Click here for more information.
With AAP.
NSW reports 1,164 new local COVID-19 cases and three further deaths - SBS News
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