Covid NSW: Major change to check-in app ahead of opening, 1035 new cases
Big change for Service NSW app ahead of re-opening
NSW records 1,035 new cases of Covid-19, five deaths
NSW has recorded 1,035 new cases of Covid-19 and a further five deaths with a change coming to the Service NSW app ahead of Greater Sydney's expected reopening next month.
Four more women and one man lost their lives including a woman in her 50s who died at her home in western Sydney.
Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello explained how the new Service NSW check-in app will work.
Anyone who has been vaccinated can download their vaccination certificate on their smartphone to prove they have received a Covid-19 jab.
"What we'll be doing is integrating that and providing people with the option of then having it in their Service NSW app to make it really easy when they're checking into venues across NSW," he said.
"That way you don't have to open several different apps just to get into a venue."
Mr Dominello said the NSW government is working with the Federal government to obtain information from the National Immunisation Register.
He said the NSW Government hopes to pilot the app in regional NSW on October 6. It is not known which part of regional NSW will be used for testing.
The pilot will be invitational and will only involve about 500 people, Mr Dominello said.
The minister added the app's success in NSW could demonstrate to other states how a vaccine passport might work.
"If we get this right it will enable freedom of movement right across Australia," Mr Dominello said.
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Greater Sydney's restrictions are set to be eased once NSW hits 70 per cent of its population with two vaccinations. It is believed this will occur by mid-October. Currently, NSW has 54.2 per cent of its population fully vaccinated.
Mr Dominello was asked what would happen if NSW reaches its double-dose target ahead of schedule to which he replied: "It's a good problem to have".
He said there are other options to show proof of vaccination.
"This is just to make it easier for people," Mr Dominello said.
The minister said any delay in the app's approval would not delay re-opening.
That statement was echoed by Premier Gladys Berejiklian who said,"When we hit 70 per cent double dose, irrespective of when it is, (we'll be) ready to roll out that vaccine passport".
Infected reality TV worker behind regional lockdowns
On Tuesday, NSW announced a friends bubble for children as the LGAs of Tweed, Byron and Kempsey went into lockdown. Yesterday the state also recorded 1022 new cases of Covid-19 and 10 deaths.
A NSW Liberal backbencher says the state government failed to adequately protect the regions from the risk of Covid-19 after the the Byron, Tweed and Kempsey council areas in the state's north were forced into lockdown.
The seven-day lockdown was mandated on Tuesday after a coronavirus-infected authorised worker with a valid permit flew from Sydney to Ballina on Saturday and was active in the community.
The lockdown prompted the Queensland government to exclude Tweed and Byron Shire residents from the border bubble, except for limited essential purposes.
The fully vaccinated authorised worker was working for the company filming the TV series "I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!" - which Liberal MP Catherine Cusack says was an unnecessary risk in a vulnerable region.
The Tweed Council had asked the NSW government not to approve it, Ms Cusack said.
Premier Berejiklian said the woman who brought the infection to the Byron region has been charged.
"They were there only to work, but what they did was breach the health orders and went to multiple venues they weren't allowed to go to," she said.
Vaccination in the Tweed is below the state average with 71.7 per cent of people getting a first dose, while 45 per cent are fully vaccinated.
with AAP
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