Five new cases in Molong, one in Orange as Western NSW LHD updates COVID-19 situation

The five new cases in Molong account for all of the new cases in the Cabonne Local Government Area, which has now had 52 cases recorded since November 29 when two cases initially emerged in the district.

There was also a new case in Orange and in Bathurst picked up in the reporting period to 8pm on Saturday night, a period of time that included the Local Government Elections across the district.

It's the first case in Orange since November 28. There was a COVID-19 case reported in Orange on December 2, but that case had a Cabonne address.

The Molong Central School has been hit hard by the impact of the virus, and was forced to close last week.

A message of support was posted by the school on its Facebook page reading: "On behalf of all the staff at Molong Central School, our thoughts are with all of our families and the broader Molong community during this challenging time. Thank you for your ongoing support and well wishes."

Across NSW, 286 new coronavirus cases and one new death due has been reported.

There are now 15 cases of the Omicron variant confirmed with more cases likely to be reported later on Sunday.

The Omicron cases are based in Sydney with on confirmed case in Canberra.

NSW health have reported one person has died of COVID-19 in the 24-hours leading up to 8pm on Saturday night. There are currently 148 people in hospital and 26 people in Intensive Care Units across NSW.

In this same period 66,671 tests were conducted.

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