Covid NSW: Pressure mounts on hospitals as Delta outbreak surges
NSW records 830 new Covid cases
Three more Covid deaths
More than 550 people hospitalised in NSW
NSW has recorded 830 new Covid cases on Sunday, surpassing yesterday's record which marked the highest number of daily cases reported in any state or territory in Australia since the start of the pandemic.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard also announced three more Covid-related deaths – two men, one aged in his 60s, another in his 70s and a woman in her 80s.
The fatalities take the toll for the current outbreak to 71, NSW has had 127 Covid-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
"We currently have 550 patients in New South Wales hospitals. Almost 100 of those are in our intensive care units," he said.
After increasing ICU capacity during the pandemic, Mr Hazzard said the state's "hospital capacity is still substantial".
"We quadrupled our ICU capacity last year, from about 500 ventilators to up to a few thousand," he said.
While acknowledging the strain on the health system and staff, Mr Hazzard said he believed there is "adequate capacity" as the state moves forward amid the outbreak.
Dr Marianne Gale said there are currently 31 people in the state who are on a ventilator, while saying the vast majority of people in hospital are not fully vaccinated.
"Of the 94 who are in ICU, 83 are not vaccinated and the remainder have received one dose of vaccine," she said.
On Saturday, 825 Covid cases were announced in NSW, a steep jump from the 644 cases reported on the Friday.
NSW also recorded three Covid-related deaths on Saturday and only 92 cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period.
Most of the Covid infections are in Western Sydney and South Western Sydney, however, Covid continues to be detected in the state's regions.
Of the new cases on Sunday, 36 are from the Western NSW Local Health District (LHD), two are from the Far West LHD and seven are from the Hunter and New England LHD.
Lockdown settings will remain in place in regional NSW until at least August 28 and in Greater Sydney until at least September 30.
Hundreds of infringement notices issued by police
Police dished out 940 infringement notices yesterday, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys revealed on Sunday.
"Of course, many of those in the centre of Sydney and surrounds in relation to the protest or lack of protest activity, thankfully, in the city yesterday," he said.
On Saturday, 47 people were fined in relation to protests across the state and 137 tickets were issued.
Dept Comm Worboys said the police officer who was injured at a protest and taken to hospital will make a full recovery and is now back with his family.
"It is just so disappointing that someone turns up to do their job, to keep the community safe, and suffers a head and neck injury that requires hospitalisation," he said.
"That officer will be back at work quickly, which is, again, just an indication of the determination of the New South Wales Police to be a big part of the solution to the challenging times that we have."
He added NSW Police are continuing to monitor social media to sniff out demonstrations or protests.
"Nothing surprises us about what these sorts of people may be planning and we are well in front of it," he said.
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