Whilst all the cases are linked, Dr Chant is urging testing rates to be increased in the Newcastle area to ensure any unlinked chains of transmission are detected.
"Of the two new cases in the Hunter, one is a woman in her 60s, linked to the known Central Coast household cases announced yesterday and the second, a woman in her 20s is a household contact of a case in Newcastle that we announced yesterday.”
- NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant
Pleasingly, there are no new cases on the Central Coast.
People in the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA are urged to be on very high alert while NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she cannot be more clear in her plea for people to get vaccinated.
“I can’t tell you how important it is for us to get those vaccination rates up because it will give government better options on what we can do moving forward and certainly the health experts will feel more confident giving us advice once we know we have higher rates of vaccination,” she said.
Worryingly, there are 12 staff members from KFC in Punchbowl who have tested positive for COVID19.
It's been confirmed Year 12 students from Sydney's 8 LGA hotspots will not go back to school in mid-August as originally thought. Students outside those LGA's will be allowed a flexible HSC model where they may undertake face-to-face learning and exams with health precautions in place.
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