NSW has reported 1485 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and three deaths as authorities battle to contain the spread of the virulent delta strain through the locked down state.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 40 per cent of the state’s population was now fully vaccinated.
“That is an incredible milestone to have reached given where we were a few months ago,” the premier said on Sunday.
The three deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday were a woman in her 50s who’d had one vaccine dose, who died at Blacktown Hospital, a woman in her 70s who died at Campbelltown Hospital and a man in his 70s who died at Liverpool Hospital, both of whom were unvaccinated.
The death toll for the current NSW outbreak is now 126.
There are 1,030 COVID-19 patients in NSW in hospital, with 175 in intensive care and 72 who require ventilation.
Meanwhile, police, fire and emergency services staff in Sydney’s coronavirus hotspots will be jabbed in big numbers on Sunday as the state targets them in a “super vaccination blitz”.
After announcing a record day for case numbers with 1533 positive cases on Saturday, Mr Hazzard said the government wanted to make sure all frontline workers are vaccinated, describing Sunday as a “golden opportunity” for any hold-outs.
At least 73 per cent of NSW residents aged 16 and over have been vaccinated at least once, with more than 7.3 million jabs administered in the state.
A survey of more than 6,500 hotel staff across NSW has found the majority of employees support the premier’s calls for double vaccination and more than half will be fully vaccinated by the end of October.
The Australian Hotels Association NSW Chief Executive Officer John Whelan said it was encouraging that 63.5 per cent of employees surveyed believed it should be a requirement for all hotel employees to be fully vaccinated.
“If you want to get down to the pub when we re-open, get vaccinated now,” Mr Whelan said.
“You’ll need two jabs and you don’t want to be left out when things finally open up.”
A smaller number (6.6 per cent) of staff said they did not intend to be vaccinated while 9.5 per cent were undecided.
AAP
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