Covid-19 Australia: NSW records 1,257 new cases and seven deaths

NSW has recorded 1,257 new Covid-19 cases and seven deaths overnight with outdoor gathering restrictions eased despite a surge in cases in Sydney’s west.

Western and south-western Sydney suburbs remain the two biggest areas of concern with Greenacre, Auburn, Yagoona, Liverpool, Punchbowl and Guildford flagged as the worst hit areas.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, premier Gladys Berejiklian warned case numbers were also soaring in the inner suburbs. 

‘We have seen also an increase in cases as we mentioned yesterday and the day before in the inner city areas of Glebe add Redfern,’ she said.

‘We ask communities in those areas to please come forward and get vaccinated, but also to make sure they’re sticking to the COVID restrictions.’ 

Ms Berejiklian delivered the new figures at the daily Covid-19 press conference despite announcing the live-streamed events would be replaced by video link updates provided by health officials from the beginning of the week.

The premier was understood to have delivered her last conference on Sunday and her sudden appearance the following day prompted speculation she had backflipped on her decision.

Though she assured reporters nothing had changed and said, ‘I was always scheduled to do today because of the key milestones we announced.’

‘Obviously today is the first day many people have freedoms they didn’t have before and I want to stress that nothing has changed from my comments from last week.’ 

Rule changes have been made on outdoor gatherings across Sydney and a state border bubble with Queensland has been opened, allowing people in northern NSW who aren’t locked down to travel into the Sunshine state. 

Vaccinated people with a Queensland border pass can travel north of the border to provide compassionate care or essential shopping if they come from 12 northern NSW local government areas that came out of lockdown on Saturday.

The border pass is not available for social reasons, like attending weddings or funerals or visiting family or friends.

Up to five fully vaccinated adults who live outside 12 Sydney Covid-19 hotspots areas can gather outdoors within five kilometres of their home.

Vaccinated households that live in those 12 local government areas of concern will be able to gather outdoors for recreation for one hour, outside curfew hours and within five kilometres of home.

Meanwhile, 12 to 15-year-olds in NSW can now book in for Pfizer or Modena Covid-19 vaccines with GPs or vaccine clinics as part of the staggered plan to get school students back to face-to-face learning later this month.

Of the new deaths, one was a Dubbo man in his 90s, an inner suburbs man in his 80s, a south-western suburbs woman in her 60s and a north-west NSW man in his 80s. 

A south-western suburbs man in his 90s, an inner west woman in her 90s, and another man in his 80s are also among the new deaths. 

NSW has been warned of a ‘challenging’ two months ahead with peaks in Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations expected.

There are currently 1,189 patients being treated in hospital, including 222 in intensive care, of which 94 require ventilation. 

There are nearly a thousand cases of Covid-19 in western NSW with authorities particularly concerned about the northwestern town of Walgett.

NSW Health’s Jeremy McAnulty said 12 new locally acquired cases in the state’s west had brought the total there to 978, with five in Bathurst, four in Dubbo, two in Bourke and one in Walgett.

Walgett is one of the most socially disadvantaged areas in the state with an Indigenous population of 30 per cent of the total.

‘We’re concerned people who have been in Walgett or live in nearby communities, where there might have been a contact travelling to and from Walgett, (need) to be particularly vigilant and come forward for testing,’ Dr McNulty said on Monday.

He expressed similar concerns about Coonamble, where 34 per cent of people are Indigenous.

There was also a significant increase in cases over the weekend in the Illawarra Shoalhaven area as well as in the Central Coast and Hunter.

Of the total 1,257 new cases for the entire state to 8pm on Sunday, 78 are from Nepean Blue Mountains, 27 are from Illawarra Shoalhaven, 18 are from Hunter New England district, 16 are from the Central Coast and two are from Southern Local Health District.

The state’s sewage surveillance program has recently detected fragments of the virus at the Yass and Eden treatment plants in the southern NSW, at Tamworth, the in Hunter New England, on the mid-north coast, at the Gerroa treatment plant in Illawarra Shoalhaven and the Brooklyn treatment plant in northern Sydney.

More than 46 per cent of residents aged 16 and over have received two doses of the vaccine while 78.5 per cent have received one. 

The state is on track to begin reopening once it reaches its vaccination target at 70 per cent by mid-October. 

Concerns have been raised that a vaccination status won’t matter after the state passes its 80 per cent vaccination target. 

Deputy Premier John Barilaro revealed vaccine passports for venues will only be mandatory when the state’s Covid-19 jab rate is between 70 and 80 per cent.

Once the 80 per cent double dose rate is hit, businesses can decide to let unvaccinated patrons enter if they wish, he suggested.

Ms Berejiklian weighed in on the topic and warned anti-vaxxers to ‘not assume’ they will be given the same freedoms as their vaccinated counterparts.

‘Don’t assume that at 80 per cent double-dose vaccination that unvaccinated people are going to have all those freedoms,’ she said.

‘I want to make that point very clear. For those of you who choose not to be vaccinated, that’s your choice, but don’t expect to do everything that vaccinated people do even when we hit 80 per cent.’

The premier warned reaching the vaccination target would take a united effort and that residents who slacked off should not be rewarded.

‘I don’t want people to think they can sit back, let everybody else do the hard work and then turn up when it’s 80 per cent and get everything else that vaccinated people are,’ she said. ‘That’s not the right message.’ 

‘As I said, private businesses, private organisations, may make the decision that they don’t want to welcome unvaccinated people.

‘Our expectation is those who are vaccinated will enjoy overseas travel. We’ll start welcoming home fully-vaccinated Australians coming through Sydney Airport, but don’t assume you can sit back [and not get vaccinated but] … participate in everything.’ 

There were 1,262 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases and seven deaths, including a man in his 20s, recorded in NSW on Sunday.

The seven deaths reported in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday included a man in his 20s from western Sydney and six people from south-western Sydney in their 40s, 50s, 70s and 80s.

There are 1,206 COVID-19 patients in NSW in hospital, with 220 in intensive care and 92 ventilated.

About 78 per cent of the over-16 population in NSW has received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine while around 45 per cent are fully vaccinated.