Covid-19 Australia: NSW records 239 new cases as outbreak grows

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New South Wales has recorded 239 new infections for a second time this week with a number of cases in childcare prompting warnings for parents to reconsider keeping their children at home.   

The figures announced on Sunday marks the second time the state has reported a record 239 cases – after first recording the number on Thursday. Cases then dipped to 170 on Friday before jumping back to 210 on Saturday.   

Dr Jeremy McAnulty revealed an alarming number of cases were detected among childcare workers.

He strongly urged parents to reconsider keeping their children at home to curb the spread of infection.  

‘It is a reminder, please reserve childcare centres if you really need to have your child in child care,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, keep them at home to minimise the spread through childcare.’ 

Nine residents have also tested positive at a Summer Hill aged care facility, in Sydney’s inner-west.   

‘On a regular basis we are seeing cases in hospital settings or aged care settings and we have even had some disability settings as well,’ Mr McAnulty said.

‘So there is an outbreak in a Summer Hill aged care facility with I understand nine residents affected. Fortunately, many of those have been vaccinated. As I understand it, the ones with vaccination are doing relatively well.’ 

There are currently 54 patients being treated in the intensive care unit with a large number under 60 years of age. Seven are in their 20s, five are in their 30s, two in their 40s and six in their 50s.

Dr McAnulty warned younger residents were the biggest spreaders of the virus.  

‘We are seeing cases at high rates in those age group,’ he said.

‘This is the age group that tends to be a link between kids, younger people, and older, elderly relatives. 

‘They are working, they have big social networks, if you are in that age group it is important that you be aware that you are very vulnerable to the infection, as we have seen in ICU numbers you can get serious disease. It is important you come forward for vaccination.’ 

Only 80 of the new cases were in isolation, with 35 partially out in the community while infectious and at least 26 were out in the public and not isolating. 

State premier Gladys Berejiklian renewed calls for Sydneysiders to get vaccinated amid the worrying case numbers. 

‘Today is August 1 and I am calling upon the people of greater Sydney, and New South Wales, to come forward and get vaccinated,’ she said.

‘To get to the 70% target we need 9.2 million jabs. To get the 80% target we need 10 million jabs. We have been talking about this in New South Wales for some time.’

The 80 per cent target has been set by the federal government as the key to reopening the border and scrapping state lockdowns.

Ms Berejiklian was pressed by a reporter over concerns that young people were being turned down requests to get the AstraZeneca vaccine by their GPs. 

‘On the 20 to 30 age bracket, we are hearing stories of people wanted to get AstraZeneca, going to the GP and the GP says no, wait for Pfizer,’ the reporter said.

‘What are you doing about that because that messaging is very different and the message is consistently changing over months?’

Ms Berejiklian responded: ‘The NSW Government always follows the advice of the federal health authorities.’

‘Of course, we ask ability to follow that health advice by the health advice in New South Wales is that if you are over 18, it is safe to get either vaccine.’

The new cases come as health authorities raise concerns about the number of people coming forward for testing.

On Saturday, photos emerged of a Bondi Covid test centre sitting empty while a Fairfield clinic was packed with residents. 

A local resident who went to get tested at 3.30pm told Daily Mail Australia the empty clinic was concerning.

‘If no-one is getting tested in the eastern suburbs, that could mean lots of cases are going undetected,’ he said. 

The exposure list has also grown with three busy buses, a train line fruit markets, pizza shops, bakeries, a Target store and a cheesecake shop among the new venues. 

Among the new exposure sites is the 400 bus running between Bondi Junction and Clovelly, and a Woolworths in Double Bay.

Bondi is part of the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, where there have been 301 positive cases in the four weeks to July 30.

That test rate in that LHD – 270 per 1,000 – lags behind South Western Sydney LHD on 450, Sydney LHD on 312 and Western Sydney LHD on 281.

Additional exposure sites released on Saturday include venues include World of Fruit in Campsie and Mancini’s Original Woodfired Pizza in Belfield, where anyone who attended at times listed must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14-days regardless of a negative result. 

The same rules apply for shoppers at a Penrith Officeworks on High Street, with shoppers who visited the store on Monday July 26 between the hours of 12pm – 5pm now considered close contacts. 

Several other south-west Sydney sites were listed as casual contact venues, including Wattle Grove Coles, Rainbow Cakes Strathfield, Blacktown Kmart and Cincotta chemist in Campsie.

Bankstown recorded casual contact exposure sites at a Woolworths at Centro shopping centre on July 30, Priceline Pharmacy on July 28, Suhhtan Pizza Bakery July 23 and Aussie Farm Fresh on July 28.

Those who visited the affected venues at the listed times must immediately get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.  

A stay at home order was also issued on Saturday evening for anyone in New South Wales who has visited 11 LGAs in Queensland since July 21. 

The affected LGAs are: Brisbane City, Moreton Bay Regional Council, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Logan City, Noosa Shire Council, Redland City, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council, and Sunshine Coast Regional Council. 

Anyone in the same household must also follow the stay at home rules and to only leave home with a reasonable excuse.

People will only be permitted to leave their places of residence with a reasonable excuse, being shopping, medical care, caregiving, outdoor exercise with a member of your household or one other person, and work or education, if you cannot do it from home.  

The warning comes as 210 new local cases were recorded overnight with 21 of those infectious within the community, as contact tracers scramble to contain the state’s latest deadly covid-19 outbreak.

A spike in new cases prompted Gladys Berejiklian to announce an entire stadium would be set up to help boost the state’s vaccination rates and 1,000 police and soldiers have been called in to enforce the Sydney lockdown which is now over a month in. 

Of the 210 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases recorded, up to 152 of those cases may have been active in the community while infectious.

‘By far the majority’ of new cases continued to be diagnosed in Sydney’s southwest and western Sydney, Mr Hazzard told reporters.

The minister highlighted the dangers of the Delta strain to young people, with just under two thirds of the new cases (138) aged under 40.

Younger people are also being hospitalised, he said.

Of the 53 people in intensive care, six are in their 20s, four are in their 30s, one is in their 40s, 18 are in their 50s, 14 are in their 60s, nine are in their 70s and one is in their 80s.

Non-urgent elective surgery has been cancelled but Mr Hazzard said a number of procedures will be dealt with by the private health system instead.

Greater Sydney and surrounding regions are in lockdown until at least August 28, as authorities battle to contain the Delta outbreak.

Saturday marked the return of the construction sector after a fortnight-long enforced break, with work allowed to resume on non-occupied sites provided COVID-safe plans are in force.

But the sector said it cannot call on 68,000 workers – or 42 per cent of the workforce – from eight council areas worst-hit by the city’s coronavirus outbreak.

Australian Constructors Association CEO Jon Davies said many construction sites will struggle to reopen at the end of the two-week industry shutdown with over half its workforce in the locked down LGAs.