A man in his 70s has died in Nepean Hospital after a battle with COVID-19.
He was one of four deaths announced at this morning’s Coronavirus briefing in Sydney.
“He tested positive on July 7 and was not vaccinated,” said NSW Chief Health Officer, Kerry Chant.
It comes as NSW announced a record 356 locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
102 were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 40 were in isolation for part of their infectious period. 57 cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 157 remains under investigation.
24 cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours in the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District.
NSW Health administered a record 29,160 COVID-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, including 8,684 at the vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park.
“We have high quality vaccines available to us in Australia and it’s incredibly important that people take up the opportunity to get vaccinated,” Dr Chant said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said vaccination was the main way out of the crisis, versus any additional restrictions.
“If the health advice suggested to us there was further we needed to do, of course we would do that,” she said.
“Part of the challenge we have in NSW is lack of compliance. Part of the challenge is because Delta is different to anything we have ever seen before.
“Unfortunately there are still pockets of people who do not believe this is a serious illness and think that they don’t need to follow the health orders.”
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.