Covid Update - Friday

¿ COVID UPDATE – 1pm, Friday July 8

¿ FOURTH VACCINATION RECOMMENDED

¿ As you may have already heard, ATAGI has approved a fourth booster shot for people aged 30 and over. A fourth vaccination for people aged 50 to 64 is highly recommended by ATAGI because people aged 50+ have a higher chance of requiring hospitalisation. It’s also recommended for people aged 30 to 49, but the benefit provided to this age group is less certain. It’s also recommended that you wait three months between any vaccinations.

¿ Omicron variants known as BA.4 and BA.5 are surging. Those variants are no more severe than previous variants but they are spreading much quicker among higher numbers of people, and that’s resulting in high rates of hospitalisations and deaths.

¿ For more information on booster shots see: https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-updated-recommendations-for-a-winter-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine?fbclid=IwAR1hO0LNyDC19tXHt39HTtHnpQeXT1TPjt-Lq6Y6cxjr65O328Cht-L-Cqc

¿ New cases in Lake Macquarie yesterday: 324 (Down 73 on previous day).

¿ New cases in Hunter-New England Health district yesterday: 1,667 (Down 196 on previous day's figure)

¿ Cases in Lake Macquarie over the past four weeks: 3,519 (Up 68 on previous day's figure)

¿ New cases statewide in past 24 hours: 12,768 (Down 575 on previous day)

¿ Covid patients currently in NSW hospitals: 1,901 (Up 19 on previous day)

¿ Covid patients in NSW ICU: 60 (Down 2 on previous day)

¿ Lives lost in NSW over the past 24 hours: 7 (Down 15 on previous day)

¿ STATEWIDE VACCINATION RATES
- 96.7% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 95.1% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 68.2% of people have had three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 82.6% of people aged 12-15 have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 78.9% of people aged 12-15 have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 49.6% of people aged 5-11 have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine

¿ More information on all the requirements and protocols relating to schools, outbreaks and isolation rules for parents and carers of school-aged children HERE 

¿ More information on new case numbers by LGA can be found HERE

¿ QUESTIONS: Please see my Facebook or Website pages for answers to frequently asked questions. Service NSW also has a 24/7 hotline where people are available to answer questions. You can reach them on 13 77 88. All further info at NSW Health.