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Mum with COVID sparks Sydney hospital scare

Patients waiting in the emergency room of a Sydney hospital have potentially been exposed to COVID-19 after a woman with the virus attempted to visit her critically ill son.

The man, aged in his 30s who also has COVID-19, was taken by ambulance last night to the Northern Beaches Hospital from his Belrose home after his condition deteriorated.

"He was immediately treated in the emergency department (ED) in a negative pressure room by staff in full personal protective equipment," the hospital said in a statement to 9News.

READ MORE: Moderna vaccine to be approved in a fortnight

A medical staff member talks to someone in line at the Coronavirus clinic at the Northern Beaches Hospital.

"The man was intubated in the ED and transferred to a negative pressure room in the intensive care unit."

A family member of the man, who 9News understands is his mother, later presented to the emergency department, where she waited for five minutes, the hospital said.

The mother had also tested positive to COVID-19 but did not declare her COVID-19 risk when she arrived at the hospital.

The Northern Beaches Hospital in Frenchs Forest, Sydney, has had a COVID-19 scare.

"Mandatory Service NSW QR code check-ins for all people entering all entrances to the hospital," the hospital said in the statement.

"Screeners also ask a list of questions to determine COVID-19 risks. Visitors are restricted unless in exceptional circumstances.

"Once staff became aware of the risk, they were immediately taken to an isolation area."

People who were in the hospital's waiting area at the same time as the woman are being contacted by the Northern Sydney Local Health District's Public Health Unit.

Sydney suburbs hit with most COVID fines

NSW Police are pleading with people to follow COVID-19 restrictions after handing out more than 450 infringement notices for breaches in the past 24 hours.

High-visibility operations are continuing across NSW to target compliance with restrictions, with police officers attending 1888 COVID-related jobs yesterday.

Fed up neighbours and residents are still keen to dob in people doing the wrong thing, with police responding to around 1100 reports to Crime Stoppers.

READ MORE: A dozen Sydney suburbs placed under tough new rules

Australian Defence Force soldiers and members of the New South Wales Police Force patrol in the Bankstown CBD.

Of the 454 penalty infringement notices handed out yesterday – which come with a $500 fine – 115 were given to people not wearing masks, NSW Police said in a statement.

Officers from Central Metropolitan Region handed out 183 fines while police in the South West and North West Metropolitan Regions issued 97 and 74 respectively.

Police officers from the Eastern Suburbs command handed out the most fines – 61.

These included those given to 10 people who went to a party in Randwick.

READ MORE: Moderna vaccine to be approved with a fortnight

The numbers come after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian indicated yesterday a lack of compliance was a continuing area of concern.

"A handful of people are wilfully not doing the right thing," Ms Berejiklian said.

"So police have been given all the resources and experts in the operational matters, to make sure we really clamp down on compliance."

Across Regional NSW, Northern Region officers issued 67 infringement notices, Southern Region officers issued 27, and Western Region officers issued six.

Man arrested after alleged assault at Adelaide fitness studio

A 23-year-old man has been arrested after an alleged stabbing at a private party at a fitness studio in Adelaide overnight.

Police officers were called to a private function on Beafield Road just before 1.30am today, where about 30 people were in attendance.

Police will allege the suspect had an altercation with a woman before the victim intervened and was stabbed in the back.

READ MORE: Moderna vaccine to be approved within a fortnight, Hunt says

A screenshot of a police patrol car arriving at the scene of the alleged assault in Adelaide.

He was treated at the scene before being taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with a minor stab wound to his back.

The suspect left prior to officers arriving but was found a short time later at nearby service station where he was arrested.

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The 23-year-old from Semaphore has been charged with aggravated assault cause harm and bailed to appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on 17 September.

Police will also be investigating possible breaches of the Emergency Management Act directions.

Twelve new Sydney suburbs added to tough hotspot rules

A dozen new suburbs in far western Sydney have been added to the list of hotspot Local Government Areas subject to the state's harshest COVID-19 restrictions.

The move follows several days of surging infections across the Penrith region.

The suburbs are all inside the Penrith council area and are adjacent to the Cumberland and Liverpool LGAs.

They include: Caddens, Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Erskine Park, Kemps Creek, Kingswood, Mount Vernon, North St Marys, Orchard Hills, Oxley Park, St Clair and St Marys.

READ MORE: NSW case numbers dip but 'it's not a trend', says premier

People in LGAs like Blacktown will need to wear a mask whenever they leave the house.

This is in addition to the eight existing LGAs of Blacktown, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool and Parramatta.

People in the high-risk Sydney local government areas are required to wear a mask whenever they leave the house and must not move outside a 5km radius from home for essential shopping or exercise.

They are also not permitted to leave their local government area for work unless they are on the NSW government's list of authorised workers.

Here are the new restrictions explained.

When do I have to wear a mask?

"If you step foot outside your household, you need to wear a mask at all times," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

"We're seeing too much evidence of people who are not wearing masks when they need to, or if they are outdoors, they're coming into contact with other people and not having a mask."

The rules apply to anyone within those LGAs, including those who don't live there but travel there for work.

Fines for not wearing a mask have been increased from $200 to $500.

For those outside the eight high-risk LGAs but still in Greater Sydney, masks are mandatory whenever they are indoors but not in their homes including shops, workplaces and on public transport.

READ MORE: All the latest NSW COVID-19 exposure sites

Residents in Blacktown are expected to wear a mask at all times outside the house.

How far can I move?

Ms Berejiklian said people in those LGAs cannot go more than 5km from their home for essential shopping or exercise.

"That includes singles bubbles," she said.

"If you want to have a singles bubble in a local government area of concern, you cannot have anybody move or you can't move within 5km of where you live."

The stricter rules in the hotspot LGAs and suburbs stemmed from people using existing freedoms to skirt the restrictions.

READ MORE: Construction to resume in western Sydney hotspots

"Police were providing updates that anecdotally, people were using the excuse of exercising for 10km or doing another activity within 10km to get around or breach the health orders," Ms Berejiklian said.

"That can't continue in those communities where the virus is circulating at the rate at which it is."

The five-kilometre radius does not apply when performing essential care to others or are seeking essential medical care, including vaccination.

Can I still go to work if I'm in a hotspot LGA?

This depends on your status as an authorised worker and where your workplace is.

Across all of Greater Sydney, everyone who can work from home is being directed to do so but essential workers are still permitted to travel for work.

However, in the hotspot regions stricter criteria apply, with only a set list of authorised workers permitted to travel outside of their local government area to attend work.

Those not on that list who can't work from home may still go to work if their workplace is inside the local government area where they live.

Will police crackdown on the rules?

Police are now able to close a worksite or business if they caught flouting the public health orders.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller sought the additional powers from the premier last week.

"These new powers, the additional police into these areas, is about getting us out of lockdown sooner," he said.

"So you can expect to see more police on the ground. You can expect to see more enforcement."

READ MORE: Coronavirus 'establishing itself' in Australia for good, says CSIRO expert

Police Minister David Elliot said Crime Stoppers were getting tens of thousands of calls reporting on restriction breaches.

"It's quite clear from the overwhelming number of people that are doing the right thing, that same overwhelming number of people have had a gutful of their fellow residents doing the wrong thing," Mr Elliot said.

"It is important for the community to rest assured that short-term pain has a long-term gain."

Moderna vaccine to be approved within a fortnight, Hunt says

Health Minister Greg Hunt says he expects the Moderna vaccine to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration within a fortnight.

In a much-needed boost to Australia's vaccination rollout, the first doses of the vaccine will begin arriving in the country by the middle of next month, Mr Hunt said.

Australia will receive a million doses in September, followed by three million each month in October, November, and December.  

READ MORE: A dozen Sydney suburbs placed under strict new rules

The first doses of Moderna are expected to arrive in Australia in mid-September.

The Federal Government has bought 25 million doses of Moderna, 10 million of which will be used for vaccinations, and 15 million as boosters.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said he expected weekly vaccination rates in Australia to surge into the millions with the help of the additional vaccination option Moderna provided.

"What we do know is that the capacity is now fully established to deliver over two million doses per week of AstraZeneca plus Pfizer and Moderna, as supplies become available," he said.

"As the Pfizer numbers grow from one to two million per week, and as Moderna grows to 700,000 per week, we will be able to deliver well over two million doses per week if there is demand."

Mr Hunt said Australians were stepping up to get vaccinated in record numbers and vaccine hesitancy was going down.

"The intention to vaccinate has gone from 67 per cent about three months ago to 70 a month ago to 77 per cent now, with 13 per cent considering it and 10 per cent not intending," he said.