“We’ll get through this summer as we’ve got through the past two. The key today is please get your booster shot,” Mr Perrottet said.NSW today recorded 2566 new Covid-19 cases, with Omicron becoming the dominant variant in the state’s sudden surge in infection. There were no new Covid-10 deaths reported.“ICU presentations are our key metric. I’m incredibly confident that we can get through this,” Mr Perrottet said.Sunday’s number breaks a record only set on Saturday, when NSW confirmed 2482 new cases — the most recorded in an Australian state since the beginning of the pandemic.Hospitalisations and intensive care presentations remain relatively low, with 227 people in hospital with the virus, including 28 patients in ICU.The Premier said that 94.9 per cent of eligible people in NSW had received their first dose of the vaccination, and more than 120,000 NSW residents have received Covid-19 booster shots.Health Minister Brad Hazzard said there has been a “quadrupling” on weekly figures with NSW Health delivering 57,000 doses in the past week alone.“There is only one club that people should belong to and that’s the booster club,” Mr Hazzard said. “By the end of January we expect that 40 per cent of all people who are eligible would have boosters.”Mr Hazzard said he still hoped next year would be a good year, but it was vital that people get booster shots when eligible, get tested and stay home when sick, and consider wearing a mask when in crowded indoor settings. NSW Health deputy secretary Susan Pearce said most of the patients in intensive care were unvaccinated or had received just one dose.She added that even with record case numbers, ICU presentations remained stable. Premier Dominic Perrottet said he “strongly encouraged” the use of masks but will not tighten restrictions until there is “evidence” to support that. Daily Telegraph – News Feed latest episodeEarlier, NSW Health issued a statement saying the Omicron variant was “likely” to account for the majority of the new cases and it would be scaling back the attempts to identify the new strain in confirmed cases.“With the high number of Covid-19 cases now in NSW, NSW Health will only undertake genomic sequencing for the Omicron variant in the circumstances where it will make a clinical difference to the care of a patient,” it said the statement. “For instance, where it will inform treatment choices as some therapies work with Delta but not for Omicron, and in situations where it will inform public health action.”NAT – Stay Informed – Social Media
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