The Australian state warns that COVID-19 hospitalizations will peak in October

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  • Record a one-day increase in COVID-19 cases in NSW
  • The state warns that hospitals will increase in October
  • The state of Victoria records more than 70 cases

CANBERRA, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Intensive care cases in New South Wales in Australia will peak in October as COVID-19 infections build up, the prime minister said. the most populous state in the country, which reported daily new infections daily.

New South Wales, the epicenter of Australia’s current outbreak, declared a record 1,290 new cases as the nation struggles to contain the highly contagious variant of Delta.

Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said the state was preparing for additional hospitalizations as infections piled up, before increased vaccination coverage began to ease the pressure.

“We anticipate that the worst month, the worst time for our intensive care unit will be in October,” Berejiklian said in Sydney’s state capital.

“We’re going to have to handle things differently because we’re in the middle of a pandemic, but we’re going to do it.”

There are 840 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in New South Wales, with 137 in intensive care and 48 in need of ventilation.

The state reported four additional casualties on Monday, raising the number of COVID-19 deaths to 1,003 in Australia, the last of the group of 20 major economies to surpass that milestone. Read more

A lone woman, wearing a protective mask, crosses an unusually quiet bridge in the city center on the first day of a closure while the state of Victoria wants to curb the spread of an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2021. REUTERS / Sandra Sanders / File Photo

One of the four was the first known death of an aboriginal. The 50-year-old, who was not vaccinated, lived in West New South Wales, where vaccination rates are particularly low, raising fears that there will be many more deaths.

“Aboriginal people were seen as vulnerable communities, vulnerable groups in vaccine deployment. And of course that has failed,” Linda Burney, Labor’s shadow minister for Australian Indigenous people, told reporters.

Nationwide, 1,375 new cases of COVID-19 were reported.

Australia has used a strict closure and quarantine system to keep coronavirus infection and mortality rates lower than in most comparable countries, although the Delta variant is putting pressure on health services.

Just over 33% of those over the age of 16 have received two doses of the vaccine, well below most comparable countries, according to government data.

The delays were due in part to the change in health advice on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine (AZN.L), which was to be the backbone of the country’s vaccination program, following rare cases of blood clots between some receivers.

According to a Reuters analysis, the rate of vaccination in Australia has risen to a seven-day average of more than 250,000 doses a day, the fastest rate in history.

Australia’s second most populous state, Victoria, reported 73 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Dan Andrews said it would extend the blockade measures as daily infections peak in a year.

Colin Packham reports in Canberra, additional reports from Wayne Cole and Sonali Paul; Edited by Jane Wardell, Christian Schmollinger and Himani Sarkar

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