NSW Covid cases skyrocket again to new record
NSW's coronavirus cases have continued to soar with thousands of more people testing positive.
The state health department said on Wednesday there were 3,763 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, with two more deaths.
Hospitalisations have slightly risen from 284 on Tuesday to 302 on Wednesday. Of those hospitalisations, 40 people are in the intensive care unit.
Lengthy queues continue to form at testing clinics, with many people heading interstate over Christmas, which has seen more than 151,000 coronavirus tests processed in the past 24 hours.
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On Tuesday, 3,057 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in NSW.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet acknowledged the long wait times for PCR tests in the days leading up to Christmas, with many anxious to get the all clear to safely attend yuletide celebrations, while others need a negative result to travel interstate.
"I know it's been a challenge, I know there are queues, that is unfortunately the way when there's 140,000 tests occurring every single day," he said on Tuesday.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has urged asymptomatic people not to join the long queues at testing clinics, warning results could take up to 72 hours as labs are overwhelmed.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard says "tourism testing" is putting testing clinics under extreme pressure and delaying results and he's asked other states to reconsider their testing requirements.
Clinics at Stanmore and the international airport in Sydney turned people away on Tuesday morning despite some waiting three hours.
"It's just frustrating," Mitchell Jones, who went to both clinics before giving up, told AAP.
"I wanted to be safe as I'm needing to see elderly family in Newcastle over Christmas.
"I had run out of RATs (rapid antigen tests), and figured they were like gold now."
with AAP
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