NSW records 1,542 new local COVID-19 cases and nine deaths as premier ends daily briefings

New South Wales has recorded 1,542 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and a further nine deaths, as the premier announced she will no longer be fronting daily press conferences.

“Sunday will be the last day we officially do a press conference in this way,” Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Friday.

“From Monday at 11am, [NSW] Health will provide a daily health update [via an online video] and myself and [Health Minister Brad] Hazzard or any other relevant minister will present to the community on a needs basis.”

She said the trajectory of daily case numbers is in line with modelling released earlier this week.

“As the modelling we released indicated, we are expecting the peak number of cases to happen in the next week or so. So far this trajectory is what has been predicted,” she told reporters on Friday.

The premier said 76.4 per cent of the state’s adult population has received one vaccine dose, while 43.6 per cent are fully vaccinated.

It comes after the state government announced its path out of lockdown on Thursday, with a raft of restrictions set to ease once 70 per cent of the state’s eligible population are fully vaccinated.

These will only be offered to those who have received both vaccine doses.

Ms Berejiklian said some “tweaks” have been made to the slight easing of outdoor recreation rules set to kick in from Monday.

Within the 12 local government areas (LGAs) of concern, people in a household who are fully vaccinated can gather for two hours for outdoor recreation, in addition to unlimited exercise.

For those who live outside the LGAs of concern, up to five fully vaccinated adults can engage in outdoor recreation, with children not including in that total.

Source: sbs.com.au