New COVID cases in Wagga has hit triple figures as the pandemic tightens its grip on the Riverina, with the region soaring past 600 fresh cases.
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The Murrumbidgee Local Health District [MLHD] recorded 658 new detections of the virus in the 24 hours to 8pm Thursday, NSW Health confirmed yesterday.
Government data reveals 129 residents of the Wagga local government area [LGA] were found to have COVID on Thursday.
The only Riverina LGA to add more cases was Albury with 186.
In other news
Griffith recorded 70 new instances of the virus, while there were 34 in the Hilltops council, 28 in Junee, 25 in Greater Hume, 15 in Federation, 14 in Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional, and 10 in Leeton.
Snowy Valleys and Murray River councils have nine new COVID patients, Edward River and Murrumbidgee have four, Temora and Berrigan tallied three, and Carrathool, Coolamon and Narrandera added two each.
A single case was recorded in Hay.
Hospitalisations in the MLHD have risen by almost half, with 17 people now being cared for in facilities across the region, it was revealed on Thursday. One of two people in intensive care is on a ventilator.
A baby under 12 months and a young child aged under 10 have also been transferred out of the health district for COVID care, the MLHD said.
Eleven people died across the state as it approached 40,000 new cases on the same day.
They were three people from Northern NSW, three from south eastern Sydney, and one each from western Sydney, south western Sydney, northern Sydney, Port Stephens and the Lake Macquarie area.
With the latest daily count, the MLHD is ahead of the Mid North Coast, Southern NSW and Far West local health districts [LHDs], which recorded 473, 355 and 64 respectively.
Elsewhere in the regions, Western NSW LHD tallied 879 new cases, the Illawarra Shoalhaven 915, the Central Coast 1606, Nepean Blue Mountains 1740 and Hunter New England 2430.
Almost 1000 are yet to be assigned to an LHD, with 933 awaiting allocation.
"A child under 10 years of age and a baby under 12 months of age have been transferred to a specialist children's hospital for treatment for COVID-19," the organisation said in a statement.
NSW Health has urged people to only seek a test if they qualify under new guidelines.
"Testing capacity in NSW is currently under enormous pressure and the only people getting a PCR (nose and throat swab) should be those who have COVID-19 symptoms, live in a household with a confirmed COVID-19-positive case, or have otherwise been advised by NSW Health to get tested," the department said on Thursday.
Authorities continue to push for those eligible for a booster to seek one out as soon as possible.
The rollout of vaccinations for five to 11-year-olds will also begin in NSW next week.
"We know it's safe," NSW Chief Paediatrician Matthew O'Meara said on Wednesday.
"It's been tested in thousands of children in clinical trials and millions of doses of first and second doses have been given in other countries."
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