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People are turning out in droves for vaccinations and testing in record numbers as NSW records another 1100 cases of COVID-19 and the Riverina returns to the list of exposure sites.
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Fragments of the virus have again been found in sewage surveillance in Temora, Dr Marianne Gale confirmed at the Wednesday update, among a raft of other regional locations in NSW.
Temora's mayor, Rick Firman, has urged the community not to panic, and come forward for testing and vaccination. The second positive test comes after it was first detected in sewage at the weekend.
"Unfortunately, the second positive test almost ensures that there is someone in our community who has contracted the virus," Cr Firman said
"If it were a traveller, we would expect the second test to have returned a negative result. We are urging anyone with even the slightest of symptoms to please get tested."
A testing clinic has been set up at Temora and District Hospital seven days a week from 10am and 2pm, with bookings preferred and can be made by calling 6980 0200.
Four venues across the region have been listed as casual contact sites after an essential worker travelled through West Wyalong, Hay and Tooleybuc between Thursday and Sunday.
In other news
They have since tested positive for COVID-19 and are residing outside the Murrumbidgee Local Health District [MLHD], the authority advised on Tuesday.
Concerns remain high for the state's regional areas and getting jabs in arms is a high priority, premier Gladys Berejiklian said in delivering the Wednesday update.
Ms Berejiklian also indicated international travel could return for NSW residents after the state hits its target of 80 per cent fully vaccinated, a milestone that is expected in November. Domestic travel will depend on other states reopening borders, she said.
A staggering 173,000 turned out for testing and 1116 new cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, with four people dying from the virus in Sydney hospitals.
Just over 900 of the new cases are in the Western Sydney, South Western Sydney and the Sydney local health districts.
Another 148,000 vaccines were delivered on Tuesday, Ms Berejiklian said, with more than 6.9 million doses administered across the state so far.
The latest people to have died from COVID-19 are a woman in her 80s from south west Sydney, a woman in her 60s from western Sydney, and two south western Sydney women aged in their 50s and 70s respectively who died in Liverpool Hospital.
Fragments of COVID-19 have been found in sewage surveillance in several new regions across the state, despite there being no known cases in the areas.
It's been found in Gunnedah for the first time, and in Tamworth for the third time in a week, prompting an alert from Hunter New England Health advising the discovery points to an infectious person being in, or having recently visited, the areas.
Fragments have also emerged in sewage tests at Thredbo, Merimbula, Port Macquarie, Dunbogan, Bonny Hills, Warren and Molong.
The Western NSW local health district [LHD] has recorded another 29 cases, and three more cases have emerged in Wilcannia, where the state is deploying mobile homes to assist the community.
"NSW Health has procured 30 motorhomes which will be set up at the local campervan site, with access to power, water and waste disposal," deputy premier John Barilaro said.
"This has been communicated to the community and embraced by the community so it's an opportunity to put in an effort to Wilcannia. Please come out and get tested."
Ms Berejiklian urged people to watch vaccination levels and hospitalisation levels as the two most important indicators of how NSW was faring.
"The national plan does say at 70 per cent vaccination you can expect to go out and have a meal ... but obviously we'll take a responsible approach," she said.
"I'm not saying different to anything every other state has signed up to."
However, Ms Berejiklian said modelling indicates October will be the worst for hospitalisation and case numbers are expected to rise as the impact of vaccination takes two or three weeks to be felt.
The interstate, trans-Tasman situation
"We know that the rate of hospitalisation is likely to peak some time in October," she said.
"We know there's ranges of predictions on what the case numbers will come up to. I've often said, as the doctors have said, we anticipate the worst will be in the next couple of weeks."
More than 150 people were arrested across NSW after unlawful protests against lockdowns on Tuesday, including two people from a small demonstration outside the Wagga City Council chambers.
The Riverina Police District alone has added at least $42,000 in public health order breach fines to the state's coffers in just four days.
In one case, police went to a Wagga home to arrest a person who "legged it down the street" and left home "without a reasonable excuse".
"That obviously did not assist his position, and he was proceeded against for that," Superintendent Noble said.
"Disappointingly, there were people who thought it was alright to go have a picnic or have a barbecue with eight people or have a game of tennis with four people.
"There is clearly a degree of laxness ... we are pretty confident that they knew that what they were doing was the wrong thing."
More on the pandemic
Shopkeepers in Wagga say individuals need to ensure they are personally aware of rules around COVID rather than only relying on businesses to inform and enforce, saying a community effort is needed to keep everyone safe.
"I think it's got to be a shared awareness," The Health Food Store's Michael Gestier said.
"It's a shared responsibility because us stores that are open for essential services are putting ourselves in front of the public in a situation a lot of people don't have to, you would hope there would be respect for that from the customer. It's a two way street."
The comments came after a Wagga woman and her fiance were fined after grocery shopping together on Friday.
It was discovered by police when they were stopped for a random breath test on the way home, when an officer noticed the shopping bags in the vehicle.
"We take the rules pretty seriously which is why it was so frustrating - we just didn't know," Beth Linquist said.
"There's no signage about it anywhere at Coles or Woolies or Bunnings. There's people at the doors who let you in with a smile, they let us in with a smile the day that we got fined."
Meanwhile, newly-released vaccination rates for the Riverina have revealed which areas are leading the charge when it comes to Covid protection, with Wagga in the top three for full vaccination in the region, but lagging in the bottom half for first doses.
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