Covid 19 Australia: NSW, Victoria Outbreaks Rising; Queensland dodges lockdown

New South Wales has reported 1,262 new local cases of Covid-19.

Seven Covid-related deaths have also been reported by NSW Health, including a man in her twenties, a woman in her forties and two others in her fifties. The death toll in the epidemic is now 177.

There are currently 1,206 cases admitted to NSW hospital, with 220 people in intensive care, 92 of whom require ventilation.

There were 27,114 vaccines administered yesterday by NSW Health. Of the eligible NSW population, 45.6% have now been fully immunized and 78% have received their first dose.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned that the coming months will be the worst the state has faced in history.

“The next two months will be perhaps the most difficult our state has ever known,” she told reporters today. “And I have to make sure that we don’t just make decisions for the next day, but for next week and next month, and it’s really important to make sure that all of the government is prepared for what the next few months are. will bring us. “

Social media users on Saturday lamented the “incredible” scenes on Sydney’s beaches, where thousands of people flocked – despite record numbers of cases – to soak up the sun.

In a Facebook post, Woollahra’s council confirmed that Redleaf Beach and Camp Cove had “reached capacity by 11:30 am, meaning access would be ‘restricted’ for the remainder of the day.

“Please choose another time or location to visit,” the post read. “The health of our community is important and our beaches and parks will be monitored in the spring and summer to ensure they do not become overcrowded.”

When asked on Saturday if he was concerned that large crowds would take advantage of the hot weather and head to the beach this weekend, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said his greatest concern was with unvaccinated people.

“I think with the fresh air, we know it’s the safest place to be right now,” he told reporters.

“But I would say to people who are about to maintain your social distancing and to be careful… In general, people have been really, really good. I know the media today will have pictures of people out there… but I think overall it’s a very safe place. “

Victoria

Victoria recorded 392 new local cases of Covid-19 on Sunday morning, as the state’s vaccination rate rises.

So far, only 107 of the cases have been linked to existing outbreaks, suggesting that contact tracers are struggling to keep up with the outbreak.

More than 36,000 vaccines were administered on Saturday and 48,063 tests were performed. As of Sunday morning, 65% of eligible Victorians had received their first dose of vaccine and 45% were fully immunized.

Sunday’s figures come as epidemiologist Professor Catherine Bennett told The Age the high number of cases in Victoria was accelerating faster than that in NSW due to “lockdown fatigue and slowness vaccination “.

“Victoria came in with a hammer, but it still hasn’t worked,” Bennett said. “Whenever my partner comes back from his hour of exercise or bike ride, he tells me that he has seen 40 people without a mask and 20 with a mask, so it feels like even at the start of this confinement it quickly looked a bit like the end of the last big lockdown. “

Bennett said ACT got locked in with one case and was still struggling to bring its outbreak under control and New Zealand was at a crossroads.

“Unless you get that absolute buy-in [with compliance], luck on your side and a pretty small and tight enough spread of community transmission that you can contain, then it’s all about the vaccine because the vaccine works everywhere, ”she said.

Melbourne residents have not been given an end date for their current lockdown, while residents of the Victoria area (except Shepparton) are enjoying their first free weekend after being released from the lockdown.

But residents of Ballarat are on high alert after fragments of Covid-19 are found in sewage.

Queensland

Southeast Queensland has again avoided a lockdown after no new cases were recorded overnight.

Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said the infections were “contained in the family” after a 13-year-old student tested positive on Friday morning. On Saturday, all five of the family had tested positive.

The source of the infection is not yet known, but St Thomas More College in Sunnybank, south Brisbane, was closed on Friday with the contagious pupil at school for three days during the week.

Deputy Prime Minister Steven Miles thanked the people of Queensland for doing the right thing and said the region could “breathe a sigh of relief”.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” he said. “But this is the best result we could have hoped for at this point in the epidemic.”