Intensive Care Units across the Western NSW Local Health District are COVID-19 free for the first time since January 1.
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NSW Health reported two cases in ICU units across the west on Saturday, but Sunday's numbers came back clear and, encouragingly, there were no deaths in the region.
However, 17 people remained in hospital with the virus. NSW Health does not specify which hospital those patients are admitted to.
Case numbers across the Western NSWLHD fell off a cliff on Sunday, with a huge drop virtually across the board, as clinics either shut to catch-up on the backlog of tests or didn't open all together.
The district went from a record 1089 new infections in Saturday's report to just over 400 on Sunday. Bathurst's drop from 272 on Saturday to just 15 on Sunday was the most staggering of drops across the area.
Orange's numbers were still high, with 214 new cases on Saturday followed by 158 in Sunday's report. While Dubbo went from 238 to 22 in the same period of time.
In Cabonne, there were two new cases on Sunday while Blayney's numbers were still relatively high, with 10 new cases in the latest report. That number was still down on the 28 recorded in Saturday's record figure for the district.
Sunday's dip in numbers, though, was a state-wide trend, with just over 30,000 new COVID-19 cases recorded on Sunday with almost 2000 cases in NSW hospitals, contributing to concerns about the burden of the virus on the health system.
NSW Health reported 30,062 new cases in the Saturday reporting period, a significant drop from the same reporting period on Friday which measured over 45,000 new cases. Testing numbers have also decreased to 98,986 from 116,915.
NSW Health also sadly reported 16 deaths from the virus.
In NSW hospitals there are 1,927 cases of COVID-19, 151 of those cases are in ICU.
The health system continues to be a concern to many in the industry. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has warned the national Omicron peak is still weeks away. Association president Omar Khorshid has expressed concern for the healthcare system via Twitter.
"So elective surgery [has] now ceased along [the] east coast...thousands of HCWs (healthcare workers) not at work...more in hospital with COVID than ever before and peak Omicron is weeks away? This is our health system not 'coping'," he said.
He said GPs and private doctors "need help to help the rest of us", and called for restored telehealth access, more rapid antigen tests, and funding to help doctors cope with COVID-19 demand.
In vaccination news, NSW is edging closer to 95 per cent fully vaccinated adults. 93.7 per cent of over 16-year-olds have had their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In the 12-15-year-old age group, 78.1 per cent have had both doses of a vaccine.
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