COVID update – 208 new and 1316 active Hawkesbury cases – day’s biggest uptick 125 in 2756 postcode

Welcome to Saturday evening and the daily update of COVID numbers across our region.

From mid-next week, people in NSW will be expected to register their Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) through the Service NSW app. This will count towards NSW’s daily case numbers without individuals needing a PCR (swab) test.

If you record a positive RAT in NSW and it means you have to isolate from work – and that you lose at least 20 hours paid work – you will be able to apply for up to $750 of government support funding from January 18. If you lose at least a day of work up to 19 hours, you can apply for $450.

Our good friend Kevin Pollard has once again crunched the day’s COVID numbers so we’ve got an excellent overview here of the Hawkesbury situation, and further afield too, giving our readers a detailed picture.

Kevin has also put together information on hospital numbers and news about developments as the Omicron and Delta variants continue to spread.

Today’s Hawkesbury headlines and numbers:

* 208 new Hawkesbury COVID cases recorded in the last 24 hours – 116 are linked, so 92 have no known source

* There are 1316 active COVID cases in then Hawkesbury.

* Of the 45,098 new NSW COVID cases (38,625, 34,994, 35,054, 23,131 cases on previous days) reported to 8pm, Friday, January 7 – 1849 are from Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, which includes the Hawkesbury.

New Hawkesbury COVID cases in the last 24 hours and postcodes they are in:

* 125 in the 2756 postcode (Windsor, Sackville, Wilberforce, Bligh Park, Clarendon, Ebenezer, Mulgrave, Pitt Town, South Windsor, Freemans Reach, McGraths Hill, Upper Colo, Central Colo, Colo Heights, Lower Portland, Glossodia)

* 52 in the 2753 postcode (Richmond, Richmond Lowlands, Londonderry, Grose Vale, Grose Wold, Bowen Mountain, Hobartville, Yarramundi, Agnes Banks)

* 20 in the 2758 postcode ((Bilpin, East Kurrajong, Kurrajong, Kurrajong Heights, Kurrajong Hills, Mountain Lagoon, Wheeny Creek, Mount Tomah, Berambing, Blaxlands Ridge, Devils Wilderness)

* 8 in the 2754 postcode (North Richmond, Tennyson, The Slopes)

* 3 in the 2775 postcode (Lower Macdonald, St Albans)

* 0 in the 2757 postcode (Kurmond)

Total active COVID cases in the Hawkesbury as of 8pm January 7 – and postcodes they are in:

* 724 in the 2756 postcode (Windsor, Sackville, Wilberforce, etc) – was 613 yesterday

* 338 in the 2753 postcode (Richmond, Londonderry, Grose Vale, etc) – was 294 yesterday

* 140 in the 2758 postcode (Bilpin, East Kurrajong, etc) – was 126 yesterday

* 104 in the 2754 postcode (North Richmond, Tennyson, The Slopes) – was 99 yesterday

* 14 in the 2775 postcode (Lower Macdonald, St Albans) – was 12 yesterday

10 in the 2757 postcode (Kurmond) – was 11 yesterday

Home and global headlines:

* In NSW 38.57% of the 116,915 COVID tests in the last 24 hours were positive (45,098).

* Previous days’ positivity rates: 34.26, 31.46%, 32.21%, 27.74%, 21.49%.

* 85% of all 293 people in ICU in Australia have Delta and 15% Omicron

* For the 4189 in hospital with COVID across Australia it’s about 70% Delta and 30% Omicron.

* 11 out of 145 people ICU in NSW have the Omicron variant, the rest have Delta.

* In the last month in NSW there have been at least 78 Delta COVID deaths and 1 Omicron COVID death.

* Victoria records 51,326 new cases in the last 24 hours, which included 26,428 positive RATs between January 1 and 7 and 24,928 PCR results from yesterday. Victorians who returned positive RATs over the last 2 weeks only can report online or via the phone from yesterday. QLD said today they are accepting positive RAT tests from up to 14 days ago. It’s likely NSW will do the same.

* In Victoria, registering the RAT positive is essential if you want the Government payment for isolating. So, this will influence those who have historical RAT positives.

* In the US, hospitalisations of children under 5 with COVID have soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began. US federal health officials are considering the possibility Omicron may not be as mild in young children 4 and under as it is in older children.

* Over 4 in 100,000 US children aged 4 and younger admitted to hospitals have COVID – that’s more than double the rate reported a month ago and 3 times the rate this time last year.

* The rate of hospitalised 5- to 11-year-olds in the US with COVID has stayed roughly the same over the past many months. Most of the children in US hospitals aged 0-17 have other health conditions including obesity, diabetes and lung disease. 17% of US children aged 5 to 11 and 51% of children aged 12 to 18 are fully vaccinated.

India, with a population of 1.4billion, reports 141,506 new daily cases, the highest since May 2021.

Australia records 116,032 daily cases after 78,160, 72,398, 64,763, 47,808, 37,215, 35,278 on previous days. On December 9, 2021 Australia recorded 1651 new cases.

NSW COVID cases in hospital, in ICU, and on a ventilator, and their vaxx status:

In hospital: 1795 patients (was 1738, 1609, 1491, 1344, 1204 on previous days) – 69.5% fully or triple vaccinated, 2.5% one dose, 28.0% not vaccinated.

In ICU: 145 patients (134, 131, 119, 105, 95 on previous days) – 51.7% fully or triple vaccinated, 1.2% one dose, 47.1% not vaccinated.

On ventilators: 40 (33, 38, 32, 27, 25 on previous days) of whom require ventilation – 51.7% fully or triple vaccinated, 1.2% one dose, 47.1% not vaccinated.

There were 166 people in hospital 24 days ago – 1795 today.

There were 21 people in ICU 25 days ago – 145 today.

There were 7 on ventilators 24 days ago – 40 today.

COVID deaths 10 today – none in the Hawkesbury:

Very sad news – one of the deaths was a 3-year-old boy from Campbelltown in Sydney. He died of COVID yesterday morning. He had the chronic illness, Niemann-Pick and was disabled. One of his parents was exposed to the virus at work, and despite their best attempts to keep him safe, he tested positive for COVID on December 23.

RIP.

NSW Health is reporting the deaths of 10 people with COVID, after 11, 6 and 8 deaths on previous days.

The 10 deaths were one child aged 3 and four women and five men aged in their 50s, 70s, and 90s.

8 of the 10 were fully vaccinated, 2 were not vaccinated.

For the fourth day in a row, NSW Health has not listed the vaccination status of those who have died or if they had underlying health issues.

152 of the 658 COVID-related deaths in NSW since 16 June 2021 were those that were fully vaccinated.

456 people who have died of COVID were either not vaccinated or just had one dose of a vaccine.

The 152 deaths among people fully vaccinated – 1 in their 20s, 6 people in their 50s, 2 people in their 60s, 48 people in their 70s, 49 people in their 80s, 40 people in their 90s and 1 person in their 100s. *Two people in their 80s and three people in their 90s had received their booster shots.

The large majority of the people that were fully vaccinated and died of Covid had underlying health issues, over half had significant health issues, almost a quarter were in palliative care, many were elderly and in aged care facilities, some had disabilities.

NSW COVID vaccination status (of cases during Delta outbreak from June 16 until January 8, 2022).

Vaccination status numbers between June 16, 2021 and January 6, 2022 based on NSW Health Surveillance Reports to December 25 and cases since.

658 COVID deaths: 0.15% not eligible for vaccination as aged 0-11 years (1), 58.7% not vaccinated (386 people), 17.3% had received 1 dose (114 people), 21.3% were fully vaccinated (152 people), 0.8% were fully vaccinated with 3 doses ie triple vaccinated (5)

1809 in ICU: 1.1% not eligible for vaccination as aged 0-11 years, 64.6% not vaccinated, 4.2% had received 1 dose, 30.1% were fully vaccinated.

10,038 hospitalised: 4.8% not eligible for vaccination as aged 0-11 years, 41.8% not vaccinated, 3.8% had received 1 dose, 49.6% were fully vaccinated.

419,678 cases: 21.5% not eligible for vaccination as aged 0-11 years, 11.6% not vaccinated, 4.1% had received 1 dose, 68.2% were fully vaccinated.

How we compare today:

NSW – 38,625 new cases, 268,021 active, 1738 in hospital (+129) and 134 in ICU (+3) plus 10 deaths – 38.57% positive rate

VIC – 51,326 new cases, 83,390 active, 644 in hospital (+13) and 58 in ICU (+7) plus 9 deaths – 27.85% positive rate (PCR)

QLD – 11,174 new cases – 62,902 active, 366 in hospital (+39) and 17 in ICU (+2) – plus 2 deaths 30.01% positive rate

SA – 4274 new cases – 21,215 active, 164 in hospital (+20) and 16 in ICU (0) – plus 5 deaths – 17.25% positive rate

TAS – 2223 new cases – 6509 active, 10 in hospital (+2) and 0 in ICU (0) – 50.43% positive rate

ACT – 1305 new cases – 4511 active, 24 in hospital (+4) and 5 in ICU (+2) – 29.52% positive rate

NT – 594 new cases – 1158 active, 27 in hospital (-1) and 1 in ICU (-1) – 19.61% positive rate

WA – 8 new cases – 87 active, 0 in hospital (0) and 0 in ICU (0)

Australia – 116,030 new cases, 26 new deaths, 451,927 active, 4189 (+218) in hospital, 293 +(19) in ICU, 72 (+7) on a ventilator

Australia’s previous COVID pandemic peaks:

1551 in hospital on 28 September 2021

4189 today.

312 in ICU and 184 on ventilators on 16 October 2021

293 in ICU and 72 on ventilators today.

Big thanks to Kevin Pollard for the research and crunching the numbers.

Our source information – link to NSW Health figures:

https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/find-the-facts-about-covid-19

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