MON COVID UPDATE – 207 NEW CASES, 72 INFECTIOUS IN COMMUNITY, JABS NUMBER WILL BE LOCKDOWN DECIDER

Premier Gladys Berejiklian is urging all residents to get vaccinated in August and said this morning that come the end of the current lockdown period the number of infectious in the community and the number of vaccines received will help decide whether the lockdown is lifted or not.

The Hawkesbury is still steady at 6 known cases of COVID. Over the weekend there were an additional 1130 tests carried out in the Hawkesbury.

Some 72 new people have been recorded infectious in the community for at least part of the time they have had the virus.

“August is the month when all of us should come forward and get vaccinated,” said the Premier.

“The rate of vaccination and infection will show us what the end of August looks like. We have the potential to really speed up the [vaccination] program,” she said

At the moment around half a million vaccines are being administered a week, she said.

“Both vaccines are working extremely effectively. No-one in intensive care has received both doses of vaccine,” said the Premier.

“The best outcome for us by the end of August would see a reduction in case numbers and a high rate of vaccination, that is the best outcome we can hope to achieve.

“I am keen for us to have the goals in sight. The goal is for us to live as safely and freely as possible. The higher the vaccination rate, the greater options we have to getting there.” said the Premier.

There will be an increased focus on getting people aged 20 to 40 to become vaccinated.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said we were still seeing a “large number infectious in community” and stressed it was critical that every time we moved around – to go shopping for example – we should assume someone near us has COVID, and take the precautions of social distancing and wearing a mask properly and keep shopping trips as short as possible.

In the last 24 hours there were 117,000 COVID tests across NSW.

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