Australia made an announcement on Sunday of its first COVID-19 fatality in the current Sydney virus outbreak. The nation's largest city grapples to contain the Delta variant. On Saturday, one woman in her 90s died of the disease. This was hours following testing positive for the COVID-19. It was also the first death from a locally-acquired infection in Australia.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has prompted older people who already received at least one AstraZeneca vaccine shot to set forth their second shot to six weeks after the first recorded fatality.
3rd Week of Lockdown
Sydney, Australia's first capital, is currently in its third week of lockdown. However, the tally of new coronavirus cases continue to climb in a place where the population is mostly uninoculated.
According to State Premier Gladys Berejiklian, the tally in and around Australia's largest city already under a rigid lockdown are slated to climb. She stated, "I'll be shocked if it's less than 100 this time tomorrow, of additional new cases," reported Channel News Asia.
The woman who died contracted COVID-19 in a family gathering. The new cases in New South Wales spiked up to 77 on Sunday. There are currently 52 hospitalized people, and there are 15 others in intensive care.
There were 50 cases on Saturday. The recent outbreak totals to 566 cases.
On Monday, authorities cautioned that numbers were slated to surge above 100. Berejiklian added, "Tomorrow and the few days afterwards will be worse, much worse than we've seen today," reported GMA News Online.
On Sunday, the 77 new cases came from 48,754 tests. Berejiklian remarked that 33 individuals were in the community while infectious. Over 50 were close family members of cases.
Therefore, this raises the possibility that the three-week lockdown of over five million people in Sydney will be extended. Berejiklian added that considering the current situation and given that the lockdown was supposed to be lifted on Friday, everybody could tell it is very impossible at this stage.
Sydney is currently combatting to mitigate the prevalence of the highly transmissible Delta strain of the virus. The reported fatality is New South Wales' 57th and the first in 10 months.
Australia has been doing much better than numerous other developed nations in keeping its coronavirus numbers fairly low. It has witnessed merely over 31,000 confirmed cases and 911 fatalities since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidelines of the lockdown were tightened on Friday. Unless there is a remarkable overturn, Berejiklian cautioned that stay-at-home guidelines are expected to be imposed.
According to Berejiklian, "Tragically, we've seen one older person die and I want to extend my deepest condolences to their families and loved ones," reported The Age. Dr. Chant remarked that she thought the woman was not inoculated but has not yet confirmed such.
Inoculations are currently available for vulnerable groups or individuals over 40 years old. This is due to exposure to the virus at work or their health.
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