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headline

Health authorities concerned over tradies working at multiple sites

Health authorities are concerned about COVID-19 transmission among the state's tradespeople, especially those who work on multiple sites in the south-west Sydney area.

As NSW records 77 new local cases, the highest daily total in over a year, it has emerged that a number of those cases are in tradies who work at multiple properties.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that "it's a strong recommendation" that those people get tested before continuing work at multiple sites.

READ MORE: NSW records 77 new cases of COVID-19, one death as cluster surges

"The concern we have is if you're a construction worker or tradie visiting multiple sites, unfortunately we've seen a few cases of people being positive but doing essential work at multiple sites," she said.

"Not so much the larger projects where people tend to be on the same site every day but, unfortunately, we've seen a number of cases in people doing essential work at multiple sites and then spreading the disease through work… then those colleagues going home and spreading it to their loved ones.

READ MORE: 'We need to be much more firmer': NSW Police to further crack down on lockdown breaches

"If you're someone who visits multiple sites, make sure you don't have any symptoms, firstly.

"We recommend everybody in that category to be tested and be negative before you go to work."

Authorities have advised tradespeople in NSW to practice common sense while working during the current outbreak, especially in south-western Sydney.

READ MORE: Elderly Sydney woman dies of COVID-19 hours after testing positive

"If you know you're one of those individuals that, for essential work, goes to many different sites, please consider just getting tested," NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.

"We're telling you that in south-western Sydney there's a high burden of disease, so, if you are particularly from anywhere that you know there's been some exposure venues or others, assess your own risk and apply common sense."

headline

Calls for teachers to get jab priority as schools face 'tinderbox situation'

There are growing calls for teachers to be given priority access to COVID-19 vaccinations amid concerns the Delta variant could create a "tinderbox situation" within schools.

NSW Teachers' Federation member Alisa Stephens said teachers have felt taken for granted for the past 18 months of the pandemic, as state leaders insist schools remain safe for students but little is done to protect at-risk staff.

"We have been asked to show up, to stay at work, to stay with our students, stay face to face. We understand those things are important, and yet no priority has been given," she told Weekend Today this morning.

READ MORE: Growing concerns over spread of Delta strain in schools

"We are classed in the general public in terms of getting vaccinations."

Ms Stephens said she registered for her COVID-19 vaccination back in May as Pfizer was opened up to over 40s, but is still waiting for the first available appointment in three weeks' time.

But many of her colleagues are facing an even longer wait, unable to find an available appointment until September.

"That's the end of next term – that's 10 weeks away," she said.

"That's a bit concerning."

READ MORE: Teenager among 16 people in ICU with COVID-19

St Charles Waverley Catholic School students are being tested after a girl infected with COVID-19 went to class.

Similar calls for priority vaccination have also come from the Independent Education Union's (IEU) Queensland and Northern Territory branch and Queensland Teachers' Union (QTU).

While in NSW, school students have been on holidays for the past fortnight and are set to learn from home this week, there are concerns a return to the classroom – currently scheduled for July 19 – could see a "tinderbox situation" as the Delta variant continues its spread through Greater Sydney.

"Teachers are in quite close proximity to 30 students an hour," Ms Stephens said.

"It might be six lessons in a day, six periods in a day – that's 180 students."

"Schools are busy places and there are lots of other adults as well in that space. Social distancing isn't always practical or appropriate, particularly for people working with younger students."

Already, there were a number of clusters within schools at the end of Term 2 which saw fellow students and staff infected, including a mystery case in a nine-year-old in Sydney's east.

READ MORE: The highly contagious Delta strain explained

While the research is still in its preliminary stages, it appears that the Delta variant is more transmissible across all age groups – including children.

In countries with high vaccination rates amongst the older age groups such as Israel and the United Kingdom, infections in children and young people are fuelling a third wave.

Unlike Australia, many nations around the world treat teachers as frontline workers, including most of continental Europe and North America.

That's not the case in the United Kingdom, where the Delta variant has seen 150 outbreaks within schools.

In the UK, there has been an increase in hospital admissions in young people with Delta.

That was brought home at a local level yesterday when NSW health authorities revealed that a 16-year-old boy is now critically ill with the virus in a Sydney ICU.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant described the news as a "a salient lesson" that the virus can affect anyone, regardless of their age.

Also among the growing number of people in ICUs in the state are people aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

Yet vaccinations for younger age groups in Australia remain months away, with authorities saying they hope to open up the Pfizer vaccine to those under 40 by September.

For those under 18 – the last category set to be vaccinated according to the federal government's rollout schedule – that date is even further off.

headline

Elderly Sydney woman dies of COVID-19 hours after testing positive

An elderly woman has died in a Sydney hospital just hours after testing positive to COVID-19.

The 90-year-old from south-western Sydney caught the infection from a family member in her home.

She was admitted to Liverpool Hospital and tested for COVID-19 on Friday, with a positive test being returned early yesterday morning. She passed away hours later.

READ MORE: 'Much worse' to come as NSW records 77 new infections

https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1414026711222472706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian this morning extended her condolences to the woman's family, as she urged Sydneysiders to avoid contact with family members outside of their household.

"I can't stress enough that every time we risk breaking the rules or even just going about our business and not getting tested when we need to, the people whose lives and health that we're risking the most are those closest to us," she said.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said she understood that the woman had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

READ MORE: New face mask mandate for Sydney apartments

It is the first death from the virus to be recorded since the start of the Bondi outbreak last month, but there are fears it won't be the last as the number of critically ill continues to grow.

There are now 52 people being treated in hospitals across the state, including 15 in Intensive Care, of whom five require ventilation.

Health authorities are also noting a growing trend of serious illness in young people.

READ MORE: 'Much firmer': NSW Police to further crack down on lockdown breaches

Among those in ICU are a 16-year-old, one person in their 20s, one in their 30s and one in their 40s.There are now 15 people critically ill in ICUs in the state, five of whom including a 16-year-old.

"We cannot afford to have complacency," Dr Chant said.

"There are many people (in hospital) under the age of 55 – that dispels the myth that it is only for the elderly.