Tamworth and Gunnedah have recorded 21 new cases of COVID-19 between them today, 19 of which are in Tamworth LGA.
The “good news” according to Dr David Durrheim, Hunter New England (HNE) Health Public Health Officer is that the new cases are all linked to a known source.
“There were 21 new cases in the new England region with 19 in Tamworth and 2 in Gunnedah. All the cases were linked to known cases and the vast majority were actually isolating for the full period that they were infectious, which is really good news” he said.
A broader look at the Tamworth outbreak has shown the health district a clear
transmission path weaving through families, and not the general public.
“If we look at the Tamworth cases, we see that the transmission all occurred in family or broader social groups. There was no transmission in workplaces, no transmission in retail outlets” said Dr Durrheim.
Although there is some “good news” in todays cases, the health district wish to remind residents that now is not the time to become relaxed. The situation needs to be controlled, and there are measures that we can take ourselves in order to do just that.
“It is very important to realise at this stage, this is not the time for relaxing unnecessary regional travel. We don’t want the virus travelling with people around our region. It’s also not the time to abandon mask wearing. Masks are playing an important role in keeping us safe, an extra barrier of protection.
“It is critically important that we avoid congregating whenever we can. The virus, once it gets into a group of people who are close together, spreads like wildfire.
“We need to all take control, ourselves, of the situation. And these are the measures that give us control. But most importantly, we need to make sure we are double vaxxed. Two doses of a vaccine is going to protect us against COVID” said Dr Durrheim.
Vaccination has been pushed again as the key to protecting yourself from serious illness caused by COVID-19. HNE Health have said they can see the vaccines are working.
“We have seen amazing protection being offered by two doses of vaccine. Only 17% of our cases yesterday in the HNE region had 2 doses of the vaccine and it was a very mild illness” said Dr Durrheim.
“Now is the time to get jabbed”.