NSW police officers walk past The Sydney Opera House during lockdown. Photo / Getty Images
NSW police officers walk past The Sydney Opera House during lockdown. Photo / Getty Images
New South Wales has recorded 633 local cases of Covid-19 - another new grim record for the state - with the source of infection for 475 of those cases still under investigation.
Three Covid-related deaths were also reported by NSW Health, taking the death toll in the Sydney outbreak to a total of 60.
There are currently 462 Covid-19 cases admitted to hospital in NSW, with 77 people in intensive care, 25 of whom require ventilation.
Since the Sydney outbreak began in mid-June, there have been 9,280 locally acquired cases reported.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned residents that "we haven't seen the worst of it, and the way that we stop this is by everybody staying at home".
"You cannot get the virus if you do not have contact with other people," she said. "You have to assume, no matter where you are in the state, that every time you set foot out of your door, that you have the virus or anybody you're in contact with has the virus."
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said she was extremely concerned by the "rising numbers of cases."
"Whilst that vaccination will be an aid and essential for us getting to a point where we can live safely with Covid, our vaccination coverage at the moment is far too low," she said.
Today it has been revealed that NSW authorities have raised the white flag on identifying venues visited by Covid-positive cases.
People on social media noticed the change over the past few days, asking why venues of concern in Sydney were not being listed by authorities despite the lion's share of cases occurring in the city.
Now the Daily Telegraph has revealed that, under a new risk-based approach, places like supermarkets and shopping centres across Sydney won't be added to the list of venues of concern, which had already become days out of date.
The change, made quietly over the weekend, means officials will now focus their contact tracing efforts on settings where Covid is more likely to be transmitted, like visits between households, workplaces, healthcare and education sites.
"We're really trying to focus the public's attention on those where we believe there is a true risk," NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said.
"What we've learned is where the infection is most likely to spread. So that's why we're focusing on those areas."
NSW police officers walk past The Sydney Opera House during lockdown. Photo / Getty Images
The NSW Premier has all but admitted defeat against the Delta strain, saying on Sunday it was no longer possible to eliminate the virus and that the goal would be to keep case numbers down.
"It's not possible to eliminate it completely. We have to learn to live with it," she said. "But the best chance we have to live with it freely and safely is to get the case numbers down as low as possible."
When quesioned on the rationale for putting New Zealand into a nationwide level 4 lockdown yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pointed to the situation in NSW.
"We only need to look at Australia to see the alternative," she said. "We have seen the dire consequences of taking too long to act in other countries, not least our neighbours."
Victoria
Victoria recorded 24 local cases of Covid-19 today.
Of those cases, only six spent time in the community while infectious and 20 are linked to existing clusters.
The current lockdown is expected to end on September 2.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday the state was at a "tipping point" in controlling the latest outbreak.
"We see too many cases, we see too many mystery cases.
"I don't want to have to stand here and report deaths. I don't want to have to stand here and report hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cases every day and perhaps an even greater number of people in hospital."
Victorian chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton said the state was 'at the brink'. Photo / Getty Images
After the Melbourne outbreak grew by 22 cases on Monday, the Victorian government imposed tight new restrictions that will last until 11.59pm on September 2.
A night curfew, taped-off playgrounds and worker permits have been implemented across Melbourne after health officials warned Victoria was in danger of following NSW's disastrous path.
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said on Monday the state was "right on the cliff edge" of an explosion of coronavirus cases after a number of lockdown breaches, including an engagement party attended by 69 guests.
"We are at the brink and we need to step back from the brink," he said.
The curfew is in effect from 9pm to 5am. People in Melbourne are not permitted to leave their home except for limited reasons.
Canberra has recorded an additional 22 new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases as more than 12,500 people across the capital have been forced into quarantine.
It brings the total number of cases in the ACT to 67.
Chief health officer Kerryn Coleman confirmed 63 cases have been linked while the remaining four cases are still under investigation.
There are no hospitalisations in the ACT at this stage.
Coleman said the number of exposure sites across the territory had blown out to 190 locations.
"We are, of course, though, very early in this outbreak. Our case numbers are going to continue to grow," ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr told reporters yesterday.
"The last two days have been two of the biggest days ever for the ACT in terms of new cases during the pandemic. That's why we extended the lockdown [on Monday]."
The ACT lockdown is now scheduled to end on September 2 at the earliest.
