New South Wales & Victoria recorded highest no of daily Covid cases

New South Wales and Victoria both recorded the biggest daily cases of the Covid pandamic to date.

New South Wales has confirmed another day of rising and biggest daily tally of Covid cases, with 1542 new locally acquired infections and nine death recorded in the 24 hours  as new freedoms for fully vaccinated residents are confirmed.

Among the fatalities in the latest reporting period was a man in his 30s who died at Nepean Hospital. A woman in her 40s from south-west Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital and a woman in her 50s from the Central Coast died at Gosford Hospital. The other people who died were aged in their 60s, 70s and 80s.

There have been 334  local cases of coronavirus infections and one death recorded in Victoria in the past 24 hours to midnight. The death is a man in his 70s who had the virus.

There are now 127 Victorians in hospital with COVID-19, an increase of 16 from yesterday. Of those, 33 people are in ICU, with 21 on a ventilator.

Sixty-four per cent of Victorians have now had their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with Mr Weimar confident the state would be well ahead of schedule in reaching its vaccination targets.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she expected cases to peak in the next week.

Seventy-six per cent of people in NSW have had their first dose, and 43.6 per cent have had their second shot.

Despite having significantly more cases than Victoria, NSW has plans to ease restrictions around gatherings, venues such as hospitality, retail and gyms and travel for fully vaccinated residents after NSW reaches a 70 per cent double vaccination rate, which is expected to be around 18th October.

However Melburnians’ wait for a road map out of lockdown will continue, as authorities scramble to piece together how the state will operate once vaccination targets are hit.

Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar made the confirmation in an address to the media on Friday.

“I have no data on when that road map will be released,” he said.

However, Mr Weinmar was hopeful the state will arrive at its goal for 70 per cent of adults to have at least their first jab, ahead of schedule.

“We think we’ll smash that by quite a few days,” he said.