NSW Health is redirecting Pfizer vaccines from other regions across the state to support Year 12 students in Greater Sydney returning to face-to-face learning for their HSC. As a result, residents in the Central West may receive a notice advising that their first dose of Pfizer will be rescheduled.

“If you have had your first dose already or if you’re in priority groups 1a or 1b, you will not have your bookings rescheduled,” a NSW spokesperson said.

“GPs continue to supply Pfizer vaccinations in regional NSW, and their supplies from the Federal Government are unaffected by this reallocation,” the spokesperson said. “AstraZeneca also remains available from GPs, NSW Health clinics and a growing number of pharmacies.”

Public health advice, based on the latest information from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), now recommends that all individuals in NSW aged 18 years and over should consider getting vaccinated with any available vaccine, including COVID-19 AstraZeneca Vaccine.

“NSW Health apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and really appreciate your patience”.

You can book another COVID-19 vaccine appointment at your local GP, community pharmacy or a NSW Health clinic near you.

Visit: https://covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/

In Australia so far, COVID cases in total since the beginning of the pandemic are around 33,000 – that’s roughly the population of Bathurst and with only 13.1% fully vaccinated the number is expected to grow if NSW residents especially don’t start following public health orders and get vaccinated according to WNSWLHD Chief Executive Officer Scott McLachlan.

“The sooner we can all get vaccinated the better,” he said.

“We also need people to continue to get tested!”

With plenty of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine available and the imminent arrival of more Pfizer shots plus the increase in mobile sites, hubs, teams and locations such as medical centres, hospitals and pharmacies, there are multiple opportunities for people to get vaccinated especially over 40s.

McLachlan said that our region had just the one active case who was identified last week in the Cabonne Shire. Forbes, despite at one point being the focus of a potential COVID scare back on June 10, remains on the same restrictions as most of regional NSW and has done since an infected Victorian couple drove through Forbes on the way to the Sunshine Coast.

Key information as of July 28:

• Overnight there have been no new cases COVID-19 identified in our Local Health District;

• There is currently one active case of COVID-19 in our LHD. That case is located in the Cabonne LGA;

• As a result of contact tracing and other investigations we currently have six venues of concern in our LHD; five in Orange and one at Bathurst. All venues of trans-mission or concern are listed on the NSW Health website;

• Yesterday, more than 1,400 COVID-19 tests were performed in the Central West;

• In most cases, people will receive their results within 72 hours. If people are waiting longer than 72 hours for results, please contact our public health team between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday on 1300 066 055;

• Up to time of publication there had been approximately 38,000 tests conducted in the WNSWLHD in the last four weeks;

• Overnight there have been no changes to public health orders. However we encourage readers to check online for the latest updates.

Community members with questions should be encouraged to contact the National Coro-navirus Helpline on 1800 020 080.

For information on COVID-19 testing locations go to www.nsw.gov.au and click the COVID-19 button to search for your nearest location. Anyone with symptoms related to COVID-19 should arrange to be tested and self-isolate until they receive their results.

For information on COVID-19 vaccination go to the COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility Checker at www.health.gov.au

To protect the people of NSW from the evolving COVID-19 outbreak, new restrictions will be introduced for the Orange City Council, Blayney Shire Council, and Cabonne Shire Council areas until 12.01am Wednesday July 28.

Following updated health advice will apply to all people who live in these areas, or have been there on or after Saturday July 17.

Everyone in these areas must stay at home unless it is for an essential reason. These include:
• Shopping for food or other essential goods and services;
• Medical care or compassionate needs (people can leave home to have a COVID-19 vaccination unless you have been identified as a close contact);
• Exercise outdoors in groups of 2 or fewer (unless members of the same household);
• Work, or tertiary education, where you cannot work or study from home.
• To attend a wedding or a funeral (but only during the grace period, which ends at 12:01am on Friday 23 July 2021). After this date, funerals will be limited to ten people.
• Schools will remain open, under Level 3 restrictions. All staff and students are still expected to be at school.
• Masks must be worn indoors (not including the home) and in outdoor settings where you cannot socially distance from others (e.g. while queuing for takeaway).
• COVID-19 testing clinics are open at Bathurst, Orange, Parkes, Blayney and Molong.

For more information on rules and restrictions for the Blayney, Cabonne and Orange local government areas visit: www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/affected-regions

Member for Riverina Michael McCormack has welcomed the Federal Government’s formal establishment of a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to be led by former New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Mr Nick Kaldas APM.

“Sadly, the Riverina and Central West, as with all communities and regions throughout Australia, has been affected by suicides among Australian Defence Force members and veterans, so this development is a good outcome,” Mr McCormack said.

Mr McCormack praised the work of former Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Darren Chester, who led consultation on the Terms of Reference for the Royal Commission, assisted by the Attorney-General, Senator Michaelia Cash.

More than 3000 pieces of feedback were received during the consultation period between 19 April 2021 and 21 May. “I think this large number of submissions reflects the community’s intense interest in this most important issue,” Mr McCormack said.

“We owe a debt to those who have served or who are serving our nation in the defence forces to find why there is this unacceptably high rate of self-harm and to put in place measures to reduce the risks.” Mr McCormack said Mr Kaldas was a good choice as Royal Commissioner. As NSW Police Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kaldas commanded about 14,000 staff and a budget of more than $2 billion.

Further information on the Royal Commission, including how to make a submission – https://defenceveteransuicide.royalcommission.gov.au. The Royal Commission is due to provide an interim report on 11 August 2022 and a final report on 15 June 2023.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said this week that the lockdown pain is set to continue until the number of COVID cases in the state is “close to zero”.

The number of COVID cases has steadily climbed throughout the past week from single figures the first week of July to 112 locally acquired infections in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm Sunday July 11. A third of those were still active in the community.

Despite well over 100,000 tested in NSW in the past week at the time of publication, a multi-media advertising blitz, multiple testing sites, numerous vaccine centres, a plethora of online information and a strong emergency services presence, it seems many are still not getting the message. The Premier was at pains to get the edict across.

“If you have symptoms, your first stop should be a COVID test, and stay home until you get a result”.

She said in the coming weeks, NSW will have mass vaccination hubs across many regions – expanding the ability for people to access the vaccine.

“Overwhelmingly, we don’t want people to leave home unless they absolutely have to,” she said.

Forbes Shire Council would like to reassure the community Forbes’ water supply is safe to drink and comfortably meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

“Recent reports have circulated back to Council regarding broken kettles due to water calcification problems in the Forbes area,” said Forbes Shire Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM.

“It is far from being dangerous to our health I can guarantee you, the dissolved minerals actually are beneficial for those consuming the water,” she said.

“Council has been accessing the town water supply from our Bore fields since March 2021 to enable our Water Filtration Plant to undergo necessary upgrades. We anticipate to switch back to river water in October 2021 once the upgrades are complete. The public may not have noticed any change to taste as our water technicians monitor our water several times a day to ensure the water is safe and treated to the best possible levels. In addition to manual testing, Forbes also has multiple online an-alysers ensuring it is safe to drink.”

NSW has reached a major milestone in its fight against COVID-19, with more than six million tests conducted since the beginning of the pandemic almost 500 days ago.

More than 3.5 million people have been tested for COVID-19 in NSW, with almost 1.4 million people being tested more than once.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the NSW community should be very proud of this milestone.

“As recent events show, COVID-19 can re-emerge at any time, even after lengthy periods of defences against COVID-19 as they allow us to detect new cases early and prevent further transmission,” Dr Chant said.

“NSW has one of the highest COVID-19 testing rates in the world and reaching six million tests reflects the fantastic efforts of the people of NSW since the beginning of this pandemic,” she said.

“I want to sincerely thank everyone in NSW who has come forward and been tested and urge you to continue to do so – if you have even the mildest of symptoms it is so important you come forward and get tested.”

Of the 3,514,483 people who have taken COVID-19 tests in NSW, 61 per cent (2,138,516) were tested once, with 39 per cent (1,375,967 people) tested on multiple occasions. More than 52,000 people have been tested five or more times.

People in the 30 to 39 year age group accounted for the highest number of tests (1,077,602, 18 percent of all tests), followed by those aged 20 to 29 (923,657 tests, 15 percent) and those aged 40 to 49 (855,231 tests, 14 percent).

There are more than 300 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW. To find your nearest clinic, visit: www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/how-to-protect-yourself-and-others/clinics or contact your GP.