NSW registers 262 daily COVID cases, a new record high

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NSW Health has recorded another 262 locally acquired COVID cases over the past 24 hours – a record high for the state:

Of these locally acquired cases, 129 are linked to a known case or cluster – 96 household contacts and 33 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 133 cases is under investigation.

110 cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 29 were in isolation for part of their infectious period. Forty-three cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 80 cases remains under investigation.

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Five more people died of the virus – all aged over 60.

There are currently 290 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 51 people in intensive care, 24 of whom require ventilation.

The next chart plots NSW’s current outbreak against Victoria’s winter-spring outbreak last year, which saw Melbourne shut down for 14 weeks:

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Active COVID cases

Australia’s two biggest COVID outbreaks compared.

It took Victoria another three days before daily cases peaked. Hopefully similar will apply to NSW.

Finally, NSW now has around 3650 active COVID infections:

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Active COVID cases

Active cases still rising.

Sydneysiders should prepare to remain locked down into Spring.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.