There were 112 new community cases of Covid-19 in New South Wales in the 24 hours to yesterday evening, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced.
Health workers carrying out Covid-19 tests at the St. Vincent's Hospital drive-through testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, 27 June (file photo). Photo: AFP / Steven Saphore
Berejiklian said the "vast majority" of those cases were family members or close contacts of existing cases.
"At least 34" cases were out in the community while infectious, she said.
"Can I stress that is the number that we need to see go down to as close to zero as possible before we can get advice from health to say the lockdown can end," she said.
Berejikllian said it was critical that people with symptoms go straight to get tested, rather than go to their GP, as transmission of the virus had occurred at several medical centres and pharmacies.
Of the locally-acquired cases, 64 are linked to a known case or cluster and 41 are household contacts, with 23 considered close contacts.
The source of infection is still being investigated for 48 cases.
The areas of most concern continue to be in the Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown local government areas (LGAs).
However, chief health officer Kerry Chant said health authorities were beginning to see a rise in cases among 18-to-20-year-olds in the Georges River, Bayside and Sutherland LGAs, and were passing it on to household contacts.
Berejiklian said the AstraZeneca vaccine would now be available to anyone over 40 who wants it.
"We have had some outstanding conversations with the New South Wales Pharmacy Guild and we are in the process of allowing pharmacists across the state to provide AstraZeneca to anybody over 40," she said.
The state had recorded one Covid-related death and 77 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday. A woman in her 90s from south west Sydney died in hospital after contracting the virus within her household. It was the first Covid death in NSW since December 2020.
The head of the federal government's Covid-19 vaccine taskforce has said young people in Sydney should get vaccinated as quickly as they can.
A graphic public health ad showing a young woman struggling to breathe after contracting Covid-19 was launched on Sunday. Critics labelled it as insensitive because the Pfizer vaccine, which is recommended for those under 40, is not widely available yet.
Lieutenant General John Frewen told the ABC this morning the ad was designed to be confronting, and authorities hoped it cut through.
He said it was intended to encourage people under 40 in hotspot areas to speak to their doctor about getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite Pfizer being the preferred shot.
"For right now, the under-forties, they've got a choice, and I think in south-west Sydney I think you really need to weigh up the risks of getting Covid against the guidance and they can make an informed choice with their GPs," Frewen said.
"The situation in New South Wales, in Sydney, is very serious."
More to come...
- ABC