THE continued spread of COVID-19 through the community has prompted some residents to ask whether the state government needs to intervene and reintroduce restrictions.
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The Murrumbidgee Local Health District has recorded 78,522 cases of coronavirus so far this year, with 1851 new cases reported in the week ending June 25.
Some 2.3 million people in NSW alone have tested positive for the virus this year, according to NSW Health figures, and 104 people died in the seven days to June 25.
Wagga resident Mary Kidson said the statistics showed that the COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in NSW in January 2020, was far from over. "I'm very disappointed at the way that especially some politicians, but also others, are saying we are through the pandemic," she said.
"I think we're in the beginning of a second or third phase of it. You scarcely see anyone wearing a mask and I'm very concerned.
"Also, the statistics show that people are not bothering to get the flu injection and quite frankly that's critical, because flu is a particularly nasty disease, particularly for elderly people, but also for very young people."
NSW Health figures show the MLHD recorded 313 cases of influenza in the seven days to June 25 and there had been 2415 cases locally for the year.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has announced that access to free flu shots would be extended until July 17 due to concerns over low vaccination rates. He said the latest data showed only one-in-four children aged under five had had a flu shot, while the figures were even lower for children aged five to 15. "It's really worrying that just over 18 per cent of children and teenagers have had a flu jab and for kids aged six months to five years, the figure is 25 per cent," he said.
"These numbers are particularly concerning given in the last month, four times as many kids have been admitted to Sydney's two children's hospitals with flu than with COVID."
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Rules designed to stop the spread of COVID have gradually eased, with masks only mandatory for people over the age of 12 on public transport, at hospitals, health care and aged care facilities, in cruise terminals and on aircraft flying above NSW.
Wagga event organiser Wendy Smith is conflicted when it comes to mandates, restrictions and getting vaccines.
"As an organiser, for me, it's a bit of relief that they have lifted mandates, but as a person who has an immunocompromised family, it has been difficult as well because for them the pandemic isn't really over," Mrs Smith said.
"Although the media is reporting that it is over, I don't know if it actually is."
Mrs Smith said when it came to getting a vaccination it was up to the individual to make that decision.
"I think it's quite personal for people to make that decision for themselves," she said.
Less than 40 per cent of the state's 50 to 65-year-olds have received their flu vaccine and just 64 per cent of those aged over 65.
With only 64.5 per cent of NSW residents aged 16 and over having received a third dose of a coronavirus vaccine, Mrs Kidson said the low take-up rate could be explained by vaccine fatigue.
"I think people are, rightly or wrongly, sort of feeling 'Well, we've had the injections for COVID-19 and we're not too bad and we just don't want to go through it again', I think there might be an element of that," she said.
"But, given that it's free and given that it's not worth having the flu, then why not get it?"
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said everyone had "a role to play" in reducing the spread of infections. "I strongly encourage everyone to keep doing the little things that make a big difference, such as staying home when you are sick, washing your hands regularly and indoor mask-wearing," she said.
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