People in NSW won’t enjoy “freedom all round” until 70 per cent of adults are vaccinated, but the government is exploring extra freedoms for the vaccinated in the coming months.
“What we want to achieve in September and October is provide some opportunities for people to have an extra thing they can do which they currently can’t do today,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Friday.
“In those areas where there is a high vaccination rate and lower numbers of cases, what can we provide people to make sure they can at least do something extra that they can’t do now?”
Ms Berejiklian said the enthusiasm of construction workers to get vaccinated to go back to work was a “strong indication” of the kind of policies that might come in the future.
Reaching her target of six million doses by the month’s end will “give us a few options in terms of pilot industries, classes of workers who can come back”, the premier said.
The NSW government is reportedly in talks with the hospitality sector over allowing fully vaccinated patrons back to restaurants and venues in the coming months.
Some 49.95 per cent of people aged over 16 in NSW have received at least their first vaccine dose.
NSW is expected to reach 70 per cent vaccine coverage by the end of October and 80 per cent by mid-November.
Ten thousand more construction workers have already booked in for vaccination on Sunday.
Some 100,000 authorised workers under 40 from local government areas of concern will get their jab from Monday, with invitations to come through workplaces.
As NSW recorded another record number of daily COVID-19 cases – 390 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday – Ms Berejiklian scolded people who are “knowingly” breaking the rules.
“It is pretty obvious … that people use the health orders as an excuse to do the wrong thing,” she said.
“People are saying, ‘Oh, I didn’t know’ … Most of the time that is not true. Let’s not pretend that people are doing the right thing.”
However, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was “very difficult to say” how many of the new cases are due to rule-breaking.
The state also recorded two deaths in the reporting period – an unvaccinated woman in her 40s who died at home in southwest Sydney, and a vaccinated Hunter man in his 90s in palliative care.
The toll for the current outbreak in NSW is now at least 38.
There are currently 63 COVID-19 patients in NSW in intensive care, 30 of whom are ventilated.
At least 101 of the new cases were circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.
The premier expects the trend of rising cases will continue for at least the next few days.
The state’s recent cases include almost 20 people linked to a special needs school in Sydney’s north, including students with severe autism.
Eighteen cases are so far associated with the Giant Steps special education school in Gladesville including three staff, seven students and eight family members.
Children are being affected in greater numbers by the Delta variant, and a number are in hospital.
Ms Berejiklian said Blacktown and Mount Druitt in western Sydney had become areas of particular concern for health authorities, with a rise in cases.
Numbers in Fairfield and Canterbury-Bankstown are stabilising.
Large swathes of the state are now in lockdown, as health authorities battle to contain an outbreak of the virulent Delta strain.
The Australian Defence Force will send 200 extra soldiers to NSW from next week, on top of the 550 already assisting the COVID-19 efforts.
The new forces will assist NSW Police with “community presence activities”, a Defence spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the NSW opposition is calling on the government to introduce a payment for those who need to get tested and isolate.
A $450 payment is available for workers in Victoria, but this is not the case in NSW.
AAP
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