23:14
Hospitalisations are the focus today and leading into the next fortnight, after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said we’d see a peak in cases over the next two weeks.
There are a couple of reports making the rounds this morning, including one in the SMH, which says firefighters and paramedic graduates are on standby to join the fight against the Delta strain.
In an email seen by the newspaper, NSW Ambulance chief executive Dominic Morgan said contingency plans developed last year were being reviewed:
Given the potential for continuing increased demand, we are likely to see increased numbers of patients transported to hospital with Covid-19.
The Saturday Paper is also reporting Covid hospitalisations are three times higher than is reported, when accounting for “hospital in the home” arrangements.
The paper is also reporting that the country’s Critical Health Resource Information System (CHRIS) showed that on Thursday, 80% of ICU beds in NSW were full, with a quarter of those being used for Covid patients.
22:52
Good morning everyone, Mostafa Rachwani with you this morning, expecting another busy day today after another very hectic week.
We begin in New South Wales, which recorded 1,431 new cases and 12 deaths on Friday, both being new daily records.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian had indicated that the health and contact tracing system were not under strain and could manage, contrary to reports on hospitals struggling to keep up.
Elsewhere, Victoria yesterday crossed the 200 daily cases mark, recording 208 cases and one death. The premier, Daniel Andrews, yesterday announced the state would trial home quarantine to bring back stranded residents home. Andrews has warned that unvaccinated Victorians may be “locked out” of venues and events when the state reaches its targets for reopening.
The deaths take the national toll to 1,032.
Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, continues to stand by her questioning of the national reopening plan, with prime minister Scott Morrison indicating that nation would move ahead with reopening international borders at 80% vaccination rates, regardless of what states are doing.
On Friday, a four-year-old girl tested positive for Covid-19 in south-east Queensland.
The girl was a close contact of a truck driver who was infectious in the Logan community in recent days.
There is still much to get through today, so let’s get stuck in.
Updated