As Sydney grapples with it’s worsening Delta outbreak, alarm is growing in regional NSW with Armidale now expected to lock down due to a confirmed case.Armidale MP Adam Marshall told Nine News this morning the Armidale council area in NSW’s Northern Tablelands would go into lockdown from 5pm today for seven days after a woman tested positive to COVID-19. A formal announcement is yet to be made.The University of Newcastle has also confirmed two students staying on its on-campus accommodation at Callaghan Campus have tested positive to COVID-19. NSW Health have transferred the students into their care. Several close contacts of these students have been identified by NSW Health, and moved into self-isolation. NEW VENUE ALERTSNSW Health has also issued new alerts for venues extending from Sydney’s west to Newcastle overnight.Anyone who attended Hamilton’s Corset Bar and Supper Club on July 28 from 7.30pm to 10pm is now a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days.In Sydney, the Easy Script Compound Pharmacy in Queen St, St Marys, in Sydney West for both August 2 and 3, and Forest Lodge Fish and Co. at the Tramshed, 1 Dagal Way, on July 24, from 1:20pm to 2pm are now close contact venues.Anyone who attended during the above times must get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result. UNIT BLOCK LOCKS DOWN On Friday night an apartment building in Liverpool’s CBD was cordoned off after 14 residents tested positive to the virus.Police and health workers were called to the 10-storey apartment block on Campbell St to secure the area, with all residents required to isolate in their units for 14 days.“Testing of residents will be done in their apartments, as they cannot leave during their isolation period,” the NSW Health spokesman said.“Food and other services, including daily welfare checks, will be provided to residents safely during their 14-day quarantine period.“Tailored support services will be provided to all isolated residents as needed.”NSW Police officers and private security guards are ensuring the safety of the building.NSW Health said the situation reinforced the need for everyone to wear a face mask in shared foyer or lobby areas, lifts, stairways, and shared laundry facilities of apartment complexes.NSW Vaccine LocatorCITY’S NEW GROUND ZERODespite infection numbers appearing to be flattening in previously stricken areas like Fairfield, cases are growing in suburbs across the Canterbury-Bankstown council area.Authorities on Friday warned the area was the new epicentre of the outbreak, with a third of cases in the LGA, among them 12 staff members infected at a KFC at Punchbowl.Police numbers have been increased in the area this weekend to assist with compliance.‘WE HAVE TO LIVE WITH DELTA’Premier Gladys Berejiklian has given her strongest indication yet that the government has abandoned the goal of getting to zero Covid cases, saying it is “obvious … given the experience of Delta overseas, we now have to live with Delta one way or another”. It comes after Friday’s new outbreak high of 291 Covid-19 cases was announced, with the Premier warning she was expecting higher case numbers in the (next) few days.With Sydney nearing six weeks in lockdown, the Premier said getting to zero cases “has to be our aspiration”. But she signalled the government would increasingly look at where Covid cases were concentrated and what the vaccination rates were in those areas when considering rolling back lockdown restrictions. “Even though we may not be going back to life pre-Covid … we can have more freedom once we get those vaccination rates up and that is the key,” she said.NED-3760-NSW’s new Covid restrictionsNSW HOSPITALS COPINGHealth authorities say pressure on hospitals is building but the system is now overwhelmed.With 304 people hospitalised because of the virus, Dr Chant backed the health system’s “increased capacity” if Covid cases requiring hospitalisation continued to surge.“Just to reassure everyone, anyone’s urgent health needs are able to be met by our hospital system … At the moment we have 50 people in intensive care and we certainly have increased capacity, and when we cease elective surgery, that frees up that capacity,” she said. “We don’t want anyone thinking that they can’t get urgent care, and that is critical.” NAT – Stay Informed – Social Media
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