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Coronavirus Australia: NSW records 1063 COVID cases, Victoria records 766

Staff writers & AAPThe West Australian
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Health care workers are seen in the COVID vaccination hub at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital in Melbourne.
Camera IconHealth care workers are seen in the COVID vaccination hub at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital in Melbourne. Credit: DANIEL POCKETT/AAPIMAGE

NSW has reported 1063 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and six deaths as the state’s outbreak surpasses 50,000 cases.

Most of NSW is locked down and police are cracking down on compliance measures as authorities battle to contain the spread of the virulent Delta strain.

Of the six deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, four were women and two were men. One death was a woman in her 90s at St Mary’s Villa Aged Care Facility in Dubbo.

It takes the toll for the current outbreak to 266, while the number of cases for the outbreak now sits at 50,123.

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There are 1244 COVID-19 patients in NSW in hospital, with 233 in intensive care and 112 on ventilators.

Meanwhile, two dozen people at a southwest Sydney hospital have contracted COVID-19 in a week - the second major outbreak at the facility outbreak in recent months.

The exposures occurred across six wards at Liverpool Hospital, a South Western Sydney Local Health District spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday evening.

Those infected include 13 patients and two staff members in the orthopaedics ward, five patients in the geriatrics ward, three patients and one staff member in the neurology ward, two patients and one staff member in the renal ward, one patient in the cardiothoracic ward and an intensive care nurse.

All staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19 are fully vaccinated, the spokesperson said.

The previous outbreak, sparked when a nurse unknowingly worked while infectious in late July, left 12 people dead.

Government modelling suggests daily COVID-19 infections may have already hit a high in NSW, but hospitalisations are still expected to peak in October when the system will be put under unprecedented stress.

NSW Health has launched a recruitment campaign to boost its pandemic response workforce, aiming to attract health professionals who may have retired, or are taking a break from work or are working in another sector.

VICTORIA RECORDS HIGHEST DAILY TALLY OF OUTBREAK

Victoria has recorded 766 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths, as Melbourne braces for a fourth day of anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown riots.

It is another record number of infections and deaths for the state in 2021.

The new cases brings the latest outbreak’s death toll to 20 and there are 6666 active infections in the state.

There were 62,408 coronavirus tests processed and 40,957 vaccine doses administered at state hubs on Wednesday, according to the health department.

Melbourne is bracing for its fourth day of protests, as police report fewer demonstrators are tradies angered by mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations or the construction industry shutdown.

A mob of 300 to 400 again swarmed the Victorian capital on Wednesday, despite stay-at-home orders and repeated warnings from authorities.

Chanting “every day” from the Shrine of Remembrance, hundreds without masks - some still wearing high-visibility clothing - marched through the city to the war memorial.

Heavily armed police surrounded the shrine, leading to a tense stand-off with protesters that lasted about three hours.

Riot squad members appeared to fire tear gas, rubber bullets and other non- lethal rounds when rioters became increasingly hostile and refused to leave.

Two officers suffered head injuries after bottles were thrown at them.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther said 215 arrests were made over the course of the day and condemned the occupation of the shine for political purposes.

“It was completely disrespectful that the crowd ended up at the shrine, which is such hallowed ground in this great city,” he said on Wednesday.

RSL Victoria said the mob had disrespected the sanctity of the sacred site, while Shrine of Remembrance chief executive told ABC on Thursday “there had been urination on the walls of the Shrine of Remembrance, which is disgusting that those sort of things should have occurred, and rubbish strewn everywhere.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned the gathering at the shrine, telling reporters in Washington “the conduct was disgraceful”.

“This is a sacred place, it’s not a place of protest. It was disrespectful and it dishonoured those Australians who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

“I would hope any and all who were engaged in that disgraceful behaviour, would be ashamed.”

The protests initially began in opposition to mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for the construction sector and the closure of building site tea rooms, but have since turned into wider unrest.

Police took a more aggressive approach to the mob after they wreaked havoc on the West Gate Freeway on Tuesday.

Liberal MP Bernie Finn criticised the heavy police presence in a Facebook post on Wednesday night.

“I have always been a staunch supporter of the men and women of Victoria Police. I can’t extend that support to the modern incarnation of the Despot’s militia. It horrifies me,” he said.

Fellow Liberal MP Brad Battin responded in a comment underneath the post, saying Mr Finn’s opinion is “not the view of the Liberal Party”.

“The police are delivering on bad laws by a terrible government. The front line can’t choose which laws to follow. As a former police officer I understand what it is like to face protesters - it is not great,” Mr Battin said.

Meanwhile, the regional city of Ballarat emerged from a seven-day lockdown at midnight on Wednesday, although strict rules remain.

QUEENSLAND RECORDS ONE NEW LOCAL COVID CASE

Queensland has reported one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 as residents rush to vaccination clinics to get free NRL finals tickets.

The new community case - a female student at St Thomas More College - is a close contact of a student who had infected in the Sunnybank outbreak, and has been in home isolation.

Chief health officer Jeanette Young expressed her gratitude to the girl’s family and said it showed how important it was to abide by quarantine rules.

“She actually tested positive day nine in home quarantine had been in home quarantine for her entire infectious period, so this just shows yet again how important it is that when people are asked to go into quarantine, they need to remain in quarantine for 14 days,” Dr Young said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday announced that there was also one new case that arrived in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

The announcement comes as footy fans are being enticed to pop-up clinics in Brisbane on Thursday and Friday with 3000 double passes to the weekend’s NRL preliminary finals at Suncorp Stadium up for grabs if they get the jab.

STATE-BY-STATE CASE BREAKDOWN

VIC - 766 NEW LOCAL CASES, FOUR DEATHS

NSW - 1063 NEW LOCAL CASES, SIX DEATHS

QLD - ONE NEW LOCAL CASE

ACT - TBA

WA - TBA

NT - TBA

SA - TBA

TAS - TBA

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