Covid NSW: Daily cases remain high as six more deaths recorded
NSW has recorded 1,331 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Saturday.
The state's outbreak continues to plateau but has shown only fleeting signs of exponential decay as daily case numbers continue to hover above 1,250 in recent days.
NSW Health also reported six additional Covid deaths this morning – four women and two men from western and south western Sydney.
One person was in their 40s, one person was in their 60s, two people were in their 70s and two people were in their 80s, the department said.
Three of the six people who died were not vaccinated and three had received just one dose of a Covid vaccine.
There are currently 1,219 Covid-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 233 people in intensive care, 123 of whom require ventilation.
In NSW, 82.1 per cent of the eligible population has had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine as residents await a greater level of freedom next month.
Glimmer of hope for Aussies stuck abroad
The numbers follow news that stranded Australians could be home in time for Christmas if a NSW home-quarantine pilot program, set to begin within weeks, proves successful – echoing promises made by the federal government last Christmas.
The test run, announced by the state government on Friday, involves 175 vaccinated people quarantining at home for seven days, monitored by geolocation and facial-recognition technology.
If successful, it is expected the NSW government would move to rapidly scale-up the program to allow many more international arrivals.
Hotel quarantine arrangements would remain for unvaccinated people under the plan.
There are more than 40,000 Australians stranded overseas due to border closures and Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Friday she hoped many of them could be home for Christmas.
with AAP
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