20 December = DELTA WAVE Day 186 & OMICRON TSUSAMI Day 12
NSW REMAINS IN CovidNORMAL , PM ScoMo, Fed Health Min Hunt, and NSW Premier "Let-it-rip" Dom & NSW Health Min Hazzard , are all telling us "'think happy thoughts" and "learn to live with covid" , and STILL REFUSING to reimpose mask mandates , QR Code checkins , social distancing measures or LGA circuit breaker hard lockdowns w/ ring fencing hotspot LGAs.
This despite a chorus of Australia's leading health experts calling for a pause on reopening plans , and return to restrictions for at least 3 weeks effective IMMEDIATELY ENFORCED reinstatements of
>>mask mandates for EVERYONE EVERYWHERE ( esp indoor settings )
>>the acceleration of the mRNA booster rollout ( gap called for being 3mnth to 4mnth for those in Groups 1 to 2)
>>and social distancing for EVERYONE in all situations
>>along with Stage 4 CCT BKR HD LKDNs in HOTSPOT LGAs with these LGAs RING FENCED to slow Omicron leakage to other regions.
The advise is if NSW Health and NSW Cabinet & Premier wait for hospitalizations to show a rapid acceleration IT WILL ALREADY BE TOO LATE because there is always a lag of 2wks to 4wks before hospitalizations go pear-shaped and ICUs become overwhelmed.
Meanwhile the Delta Wave and Omicron Outbreaks in NSW are hitting new all time daily local case records DAILY and showing now sign of the vertical case number curve slowing --- going from bad to worse .
Omicron is NOW the dominant strain in NSW and is NOW totally out of control and spreading at faster rates in the community than any other strain of covid we've seen to date.
COMBINED DELTA & OMICRON WAVE IN AUSTRALIA
Australia recorded cases o/night ,
Australia's CUMULATIVE LOCAL DELTA + OMICRON cases as of today = 226626.
National record highs daily for 6 days.
Previous Australian record = 2005 on 14/10/2021
New Australian records
14/12/2021 = 2018
15/12/2021 = 2815 UP 40%
< NSW moves to COVIDNormal based on 80% of +16ys being FULLY VAXXED ONLY , according Federal Opening Plan >
16/12/2021 = 3423 UP 22%
17/12/2021 = 3837 UP 12%
18/12/2021 = 4114 UP 8%
19/12/2021 = 3958
20/12/2021 = 3990
DELTA DEATHS TODAY
Australia = 0
NSW = 0, ==> total in this DELTA WAVE = 588
Victoria 0, ==> total in this DELTA WAVE = 641
ACT = 0 . ==> total in this DELTA WAVE = 12
NT total in this DELTA WAVE ( and for entire pandemic ) = 1
QLD = 0
NSW
20 December 2501
NSW recorded 2,566 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
NSW total local Delta Cases stands at 95270,
2235 Mystery cases today.
7 intls in quarantine.
20 December 2021
Across NSW, 94.9 % of people aged 16 and over have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 93.4 % have received two doses.
Of the people aged 12 to 15, 81.5 % have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 78.1 % have received two doses.
The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 13,285,675 with 4,262,147 doses administered by NSW Health to 8pm last night and 9,023,528 administered by the GP network, pharmacies and other providers to 11.59pm on Saturday 18 December 2021.
NSW Health encourages everyone who is eligible to book into a NSW Health vaccination clinic or another provider without delay through the COVID-19 vaccine clinic finder.
Everyone aged 18 years and older may now receive a booster five months after receiving their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. We urge people to get their booster dose as soon as they are eligible, to best protect yourself, your loved ones and the community from the ongoing transmission of COVID-19. If you are due for your booster over the Christmas new year period, you can have it a little earlier.
We also strongly recommend that people aged 12 years and over who are severely immunocompromised have a third primary dose of vaccine from two months after their second dose. Talk to your GP for more advice.
There are currently 261 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 33 people in intensive care, 11 of whom require ventilation.
There were 144,368 COVID-19 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 148,937.
NSW recorded 2,501 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Nineteen COVID-19 cases have been excluded following further investigation, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 99,851..
NSW Health continues to remind everyone across the community to continue to practice COVID-safe behaviours, including recommending wearing a mask in settings where you cannot physically distance.
Around a quarter of people who have been exposed to COVID-19 may still develop their infection after seven days. For the next seven days close contacts should exercise caution and not enter a high-risk setting, should avoid large indoor gatherings, use a RAT test if coming into contact with vulnerable people, and should get tested again on day 12.
Get tested and stay home if you have the mildest of symptoms. Do not go out and visit family, friends or go to social events if you are unwell. Practice good hand hygiene by washing and sanitising your hands regularly.
If you do not have symptoms, consider using a Rapid Antigen Test before going out.
Of the 2,501 cases reported to 8pm last night,
660 are from Hunter New England Local Health District (LHD),
417 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD,
339 are from Sydney LHD,
315 are from Western Sydney LHD,
250 are from South Western Sydney LHD,
227 are from Northern Sydney LHD,
77 are from Central Coast LHD,
40 are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD,
34 are from Northern NSW LHD,
24 are from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD,
24 are from Mid North Coast LHD,
20 are from Western NSW LHD,
9 are from Murrumbidgee LHD,
7 are from Far West LHD,
4 are from Southern NSW LHD,
and 54 are yet to be assigned to an LHD.
NSW POSITIVITY DAILY SNAPSHOT
NSW Reff DAILY SNAPSHOT
While some health experts favour a more conservative approach towards restrictions, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has emphasised the need for personal responsibility.
Sharon Lewin, the Doherty Institute director who advised on the national plan to roll back public health restrictions, has called for large gathering at pubs and nightclubs to cease and a return of mask wearing indoors.
"We should bring back some restrictions on how people mix for a few weeks, while we get more information on Omicron's severity and its ability to evade vaccines," she said.
On Sunday, Mr Perrottet pointed to the low numbers of intensive care admissions in resisting calls for the reinstatement of a mask wearing mandate.
Mr Perrottet said it's up to individuals to have "personal responsibility" and use masks when it made sense to do so, as rising case numbers become the "new normal".
"The government can't do everything," he said. "It's over to the people of our state."
Federal Labor's government services spokesman Bill Shorten said individuals should be "cautious".
"I think it is up to us to have some personal responsibility here," he told Nine's Today show on Monday. "So with Christmas just around the corner, just be cautious I think is the word of the day. And mask up if you need to be in big social settings."
Professor John Kaldor from the University of NSW Kirby Institute said the national reopening plan should not change in broad terms.
"Every plan need to be responsive to changes in circumstances, and what we've seen with COVID is that there are twists and turns that are unexpected," he told ABC radio.
NSW has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, which politicians and health authorities said was the pathway out of the pandemic.
He said NSW has "always struck the right balance" and is ultimately "in a very strong place".
In a joint comment piece, experts from Australia’s leading infectious diseases research institutions including John Kaldor, a professor of epidemiology with the Kirby Institute in NSW, the director of the Doherty Institute, Prof. Sharon Lewin, and Prof Greg Dore, an infectious diseases physician and epidemiologist all agreed that while booster vaccinations will be critical, some restrictions are needed.
They called for the return of indoor mask mandates in NSW [Victoria already requires masks for indoor retail], and for density limits to be reintroduced for indoor venues over Christmas. These measures should remain for at least a few weeks, they wrote, until more information on Omicron’s severity and its ability to evade vaccines is gathered.
Experts are cautioning the government’s approach to reopening as NSW and Victoria record a surge in case numbers over the weekend.
Deputy chief medical officer, Sonya Bennett said on Sunday the new Omicron variant’s transmissibility was “concerning.”
It comes as NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet doubles down on his plans to remove restrictions around masks and check in codes in the state.
NSW REMAINS IN CovidNORMAL , PM ScoMo, Fed Health Min Hunt, and NSW Premier "Let-it-rip" Dom & NSW Health Min Hazzard , are all telling us "'think happy thoughts" and "learn to live with covid" , and STILL REFUSING to reimpose mask mandates , QR Code checkins , social distancing measures or LGA circuit breaker hard lockdowns w/ ring fencing hotspot LGAs.
This despite a chorus of Australia's leading health experts calling for a pause on reopening plans , and return to restrictions for at least 3 weeks effective IMMEDIATELY ENFORCED reinstatements of
>>mask mandates for EVERYONE EVERYWHERE ( esp indoor settings )
>>the acceleration of the mRNA booster rollout ( gap called for being 3mnth to 4mnth for those in Groups 1 to 2)
>>and social distancing for EVERYONE in all situations
>>along with Stage 4 CCT BKR HD LKDNs in HOTSPOT LGAs with these LGAs RING FENCED to slow Omicron leakage to other regions.
The advise is if NSW Health and NSW Cabinet & Premier wait for hospitalizations to show a rapid acceleration IT WILL ALREADY BE TOO LATE because there is always a lag of 2wks to 4wks before hospitalizations go pear-shaped and ICUs become overwhelmed.
Meanwhile the Delta Wave and Omicron Outbreaks in NSW are hitting new all time daily local case records DAILY and showing now sign of the vertical case number curve slowing --- going from bad to worse .
Omicron is NOW the dominant strain in NSW and is NOW totally out of control and spreading at faster rates in the community than any other strain of covid we've seen to date.
COMBINED DELTA & OMICRON WAVE IN AUSTRALIA
Australia recorded cases o/night ,
Australia's CUMULATIVE LOCAL DELTA + OMICRON cases as of today = 226626.
National record highs daily for 6 days.
Previous Australian record = 2005 on 14/10/2021
New Australian records
14/12/2021 = 2018
15/12/2021 = 2815 UP 40%
< NSW moves to COVIDNormal based on 80% of +16ys being FULLY VAXXED ONLY , according Federal Opening Plan >
16/12/2021 = 3423 UP 22%
17/12/2021 = 3837 UP 12%
18/12/2021 = 4114 UP 8%
19/12/2021 = 3958
20/12/2021 = 3990
DELTA DEATHS TODAY
Australia = 0
NSW = 0, ==> total in this DELTA WAVE = 588
Victoria 0, ==> total in this DELTA WAVE = 641
ACT = 0 . ==> total in this DELTA WAVE = 12
NT total in this DELTA WAVE ( and for entire pandemic ) = 1
QLD = 0
NSW
20 December 2501
NSW recorded 2,566 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
NSW total local Delta Cases stands at 95270,
2235 Mystery cases today.
7 intls in quarantine.
20 December 2021
Across NSW, 94.9 % of people aged 16 and over have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 93.4 % have received two doses.
Of the people aged 12 to 15, 81.5 % have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 78.1 % have received two doses.
The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 13,285,675 with 4,262,147 doses administered by NSW Health to 8pm last night and 9,023,528 administered by the GP network, pharmacies and other providers to 11.59pm on Saturday 18 December 2021.
NSW Health encourages everyone who is eligible to book into a NSW Health vaccination clinic or another provider without delay through the COVID-19 vaccine clinic finder.
Everyone aged 18 years and older may now receive a booster five months after receiving their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. We urge people to get their booster dose as soon as they are eligible, to best protect yourself, your loved ones and the community from the ongoing transmission of COVID-19. If you are due for your booster over the Christmas new year period, you can have it a little earlier.
We also strongly recommend that people aged 12 years and over who are severely immunocompromised have a third primary dose of vaccine from two months after their second dose. Talk to your GP for more advice.
There are currently 261 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 33 people in intensive care, 11 of whom require ventilation.
There were 144,368 COVID-19 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 148,937.
NSW recorded 2,501 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Nineteen COVID-19 cases have been excluded following further investigation, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 99,851..
NSW Health continues to remind everyone across the community to continue to practice COVID-safe behaviours, including recommending wearing a mask in settings where you cannot physically distance.
Around a quarter of people who have been exposed to COVID-19 may still develop their infection after seven days. For the next seven days close contacts should exercise caution and not enter a high-risk setting, should avoid large indoor gatherings, use a RAT test if coming into contact with vulnerable people, and should get tested again on day 12.
Get tested and stay home if you have the mildest of symptoms. Do not go out and visit family, friends or go to social events if you are unwell. Practice good hand hygiene by washing and sanitising your hands regularly.
If you do not have symptoms, consider using a Rapid Antigen Test before going out.
Of the 2,501 cases reported to 8pm last night,
660 are from Hunter New England Local Health District (LHD),
417 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD,
339 are from Sydney LHD,
315 are from Western Sydney LHD,
250 are from South Western Sydney LHD,
227 are from Northern Sydney LHD,
77 are from Central Coast LHD,
40 are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD,
34 are from Northern NSW LHD,
24 are from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD,
24 are from Mid North Coast LHD,
20 are from Western NSW LHD,
9 are from Murrumbidgee LHD,
7 are from Far West LHD,
4 are from Southern NSW LHD,
and 54 are yet to be assigned to an LHD.
NSW POSITIVITY DAILY SNAPSHOT
NSW Reff DAILY SNAPSHOT
While some health experts favour a more conservative approach towards restrictions, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has emphasised the need for personal responsibility.
Sharon Lewin, the Doherty Institute director who advised on the national plan to roll back public health restrictions, has called for large gathering at pubs and nightclubs to cease and a return of mask wearing indoors.
"We should bring back some restrictions on how people mix for a few weeks, while we get more information on Omicron's severity and its ability to evade vaccines," she said.
On Sunday, Mr Perrottet pointed to the low numbers of intensive care admissions in resisting calls for the reinstatement of a mask wearing mandate.
Mr Perrottet said it's up to individuals to have "personal responsibility" and use masks when it made sense to do so, as rising case numbers become the "new normal".
"The government can't do everything," he said. "It's over to the people of our state."
Federal Labor's government services spokesman Bill Shorten said individuals should be "cautious".
"I think it is up to us to have some personal responsibility here," he told Nine's Today show on Monday. "So with Christmas just around the corner, just be cautious I think is the word of the day. And mask up if you need to be in big social settings."
Professor John Kaldor from the University of NSW Kirby Institute said the national reopening plan should not change in broad terms.
"Every plan need to be responsive to changes in circumstances, and what we've seen with COVID is that there are twists and turns that are unexpected," he told ABC radio.
NSW has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, which politicians and health authorities said was the pathway out of the pandemic.
He said NSW has "always struck the right balance" and is ultimately "in a very strong place".
In a joint comment piece, experts from Australia’s leading infectious diseases research institutions including John Kaldor, a professor of epidemiology with the Kirby Institute in NSW, the director of the Doherty Institute, Prof. Sharon Lewin, and Prof Greg Dore, an infectious diseases physician and epidemiologist all agreed that while booster vaccinations will be critical, some restrictions are needed.
They called for the return of indoor mask mandates in NSW [Victoria already requires masks for indoor retail], and for density limits to be reintroduced for indoor venues over Christmas. These measures should remain for at least a few weeks, they wrote, until more information on Omicron’s severity and its ability to evade vaccines is gathered.
Experts are cautioning the government’s approach to reopening as NSW and Victoria record a surge in case numbers over the weekend.
Deputy chief medical officer, Sonya Bennett said on Sunday the new Omicron variant’s transmissibility was “concerning.”
It comes as NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet doubles down on his plans to remove restrictions around masks and check in codes in the state.
Last edited: