Sunday, 1 August 2021
Just 31 days out from the beginning of Spring and parts of the Clarence and Richmond valleys are listed as drought affected
CDI = Combined Drought Indicator. RI = Rainfall Index. SWI = Soil Water Index. PGI = Pasture Growth Index. DDI = Drought Direction Index. Data current to 22/7/2021 (AEST)
This drought affected area represents est. 1.9% of the NSW North Coast region, with est. 97.9% of the region not experiencing any level of drought.
Saturday, 31 July 2021
Friday, 30 July 2021
North Coast news you may have missed this week.......
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday 28 July 2021 that up to 40,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be redirected from the state's rural and regional COVID-19 vaccine supply to help Year 12 students in some of Sydney's worst-affected suburbs get back to school for face-to-face learning.
But with several COVID-19 cases in regional towns, including Coffs Harbour, Orange and the Central Coast, residents reacted cautiously to the announcement.
"There are frontline health care workers who [still] haven't been vaccinated [in regional areas]," Rural Doctors Association of Australia's CEO Peta Rutherford said.
"We just say it with warning — if they're moving the vaccines into Sydney, we would expect, should there be an outbreak, that the Premier is prepared to move Sydney vaccines to a rural town if required."
On the Mid North Coast, the mayor of Nambucca Heads, Rhonda Hoban, said despite no COVID-19 cases so far, there were a lot of vulnerable people in the community still waiting to be vaccinated.
"We've got three times the state average of people over the age of 65, a high Indigenous population and a significantly higher than average number of people who suffer chronic health conditions," Councillor Hoban said.
"The real issue has been that we've had close to 18 months and we still don't have enough vaccines.
“If there was an outbreak in the Nambucca Valley and they rushed Pfizer here, immunity is not immediate.”
Similar concerns were held by the Mayor of Lake Macquarie Kay Fraser, who said regional NSW was being treated like Sydney's "poorer cousin".
“I have a real issue with it," she said.
“If it’s going to come out of the Hunter region or some of those regional areas out at Orange, where there is COVID-19, I’m really concerned.” [ABC News, 29 July 2021]
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Twenty-four 24 brand new homes funded by a $4.1 million grant by the NSW Government - 12 two-bedroom and 12 single-bedroom - are to be built in South Grafton for disadvantaged families in partnership with North Coast Community Housing.
Work is expected to begin on the Bimble Ave site in South Grafton early in 2021, following council approval.
“North Coast Community Housing CEO John McKenna said the project would help alleviate housing stress by providing a significant boost to housing options in Grafton.
“The mixed tenure development is aimed at addressing three issues in the current housing market by offering six of the units for sale, nine units at an affordable rent for key workers and nine units for those most in need of social housing,” Mr McKenna said.” [DailyTelegraph, 28 July 2021]
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Details of the fines issued to 26 year-old George Thompson who breached the Greater Sydney lockdown by flying to Ballina on 14 July 2021 before being driven across the NSW-Qld border where allegedly “he used someone else's details to check into venues around Brisbane…..
July 26: Mr Thompson was fined $4,000 for failing to comply with a border direction, $4,000 for providing false information and $1,300 for failing to comply with a direction from an emergency officer. Ms Gray was fined $4,000 failing to comply with a border direction.” [Daily Mail, 29 July 2021]
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News Corp in Australia is hedging its bets when it comes to 'anti-vaxx' sentiment now the NSW Delta Variant Outbreak really starts to bite
The Guardian, 29 July 2021:
The Daily Telegraph has ended Alan Jones’s regular column amid controversy about his Covid-19 commentary, including calling the NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant a village idiot on his Sky News program.
There has been apparent tension inside News Corp Australia between the anti-lockdown Sky After Dark commentators like Jones and Andrew Bolt and the Holt Street newspapers, which have been promoting vaccination and criticising the “freedom” protest in Sydney.
The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English told Jones he was dropping his column because it didn’t “resonate” with readers.
Jones, 80, says he doesn’t believe his columns don’t resonate with readers.
“If the argument has been it’s not resonating, I don’t have to defend myself,” Jones told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Have a look at Sky News YouTube, Sky News Facebook and Alan Jones Facebook and you can see. The same column that I write for the Tele goes up on my Facebook page.
“The public can check it for themselves. 35 years at top of the radio - and I don’t resonate with the public? Honestly.”
Asked about Jones’s attacks on Chant, the NSW health minister Brad Hazzard told reporters at a press conference that a lot of people “don’t base their decisions in science, or evidence”.
“All I will say is we are in a one-in-100-year pandemic,” he said. “The community need to understand the decisions are taken as best as possible on the basis of evidence and science to keep us safe.”
Jones’s final Telegraph column last week criticised Australia’s response to Covid-19, which he argues is no worse than the flu for healthy people.
On Monday on Sky News, Jones launched an attack on Chant, calling her “dumb” and “out of touch”. “How many villages are missing their idiot?” he said.
The former 2GB broadcaster also defended the Sydney protesters…..
Thursday, 29 July 2021
How does one know that a particular water security solution is probably a bad idea? It is supported by the NSW National Party
Rous County Council is the regional water supply authority providing water in bulk to the Council areas of: Ballina (excluding Wardell); Byron (excluding Mullumbimby); Lismore (excluding Nimbin); and Richmond Valley (excluding land to the west of Coraki). A population of around 100,000 is serviced by this water supply system with the actual area of operations being approximately 3,000 sq kms.
Its constituent councils have at least 83,051 person who are eligible to vote in local government elections.
On the basis that allegedly around 10 per cent of of the district population and, 3 out of a total of 43 councillors in the 4 constituent local government areas, supported further investigation of the now rejected Dunoon Dam proposal, NSW Nationals MLA for Clarence & Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry Chris Gulaptis is yelling about the democratic process.
The Daily Telegraph, 26 July 2021:
ROUS County Council needs to use some common sense in developing its future water strategy according to Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis.
Mr Gulaptis, who was also the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry, said he was disappointed the majority of Rous councillors ignored the overwhelming wishes of the community at Wednesday’s extraordinary meeting and abandoned investigations into Dunoon Dam as an option.
Councillors voted 5-3 to keep Dunoon Dam out of the region’s future water strategy and instead tap into groundwater aquifers in Alstonville and Tyagarah, which Mr Gulaptis said the most recent studies showed was very limited.
“I applaud councillors Robert Mustow, Sandra Humphrys and Sharon Cadwallader for supporting the wishes of over 11,000 petitioners and written submissions who were in favour of the Dunoon Dam proposal being further investigated,” he said.
“The five opposing councillors showed a complete disregard to the community consultation process and the community has every right to lose confidence in them and the democratic process. It quite rightly is a slap in the face to local democracy.
“Water is one of the most basic elements we need to survive, and I acknowledge the vision of past Rous councillors who recognised this and purchased land for a dam to secure the water needs for a growing population.
“I find it staggering the majority of current councillors are prepared to ignore this longstanding strategy along with disregarding the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the community whose submissions supported investigating the dam as an option.
“I acknowledge that desalination, recycling and extraction from the aquifers is an option, but so too is the dam.
“I strongly believe all options should all be on the table, including the dam, for investigation to assure the community that Rous has been thorough in arriving at the best option for the region’s future water needs. “It is often said that local government is the government closest to the people. Clearly that is not the case of the five elected councillors in this instance, who are ignoring the will of more than 10,000 constituents.”
Wednesday, 28 July 2021
COVID-19 State of Play in New South Wales from 25 -31 July 2021
DAY 40: NSW Health data showed that, as of 8pm Sunday 25 July 2021, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the Delta Variant Outbreak in NSW now totals 2,226 people - inclusive of 8 deaths. There are currently 156 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 44 people in intensive care, 18 of whom require ventilation.
DAY 41: NSW Health data showed that, as of 8pm Monday 26 July 2021, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the Delta Variant Outbreak in NSW now totals 2,237 people - inclusive of 10 deaths. There are currently 169 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 46 people in intensive care, 19 of whom require ventilation.
New South Wales COVID-19 Daily Chart of Reff* by Area for the current Delta Variant Outbreak, as at 27 July 2021: Mike Honey
NOTE: * REFF is the effective viral infection reproduction rate.
DAY 42: as of 8pm Tuesday 27 July 2021, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the Delta Variant Outbreak in NSW now totals 2,414 people - inclusive of 11 deaths. There are currently 165 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 59 people in intensive care, 22 of whom require ventilation.
NSW COVID-19 Outbreak 16 June to 27 July 2021 - infection spread by area: Mike Honey
Interactive Mapping at https://github.com/Mike-Honey/covid-19-outbreak-paths
NSW Health daily reports can be found at:
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/20210728_00.aspx
DAY 43: as of 8pm Wednesday 28 July 2021, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the Delta Variant Outbreak in NSW now totals 2,653 people - inclusive of 13 deaths. There are currently 182 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 54 people in intensive care, 22 of whom require ventilation.
All of Greater Sydney, including Wollongong, Central Coast and the Blue Mountains, entered a lockdown on June 26, which has been extended for four more weeks until at least August 28.
From 12.01am on Friday, 30 July 2021, residents of the eight Local Government Areas of concern (Blacktown, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool and Parramatta) will be subject to new exercise, mask and shopping rules. pic.twitter.com/zDyvxitgk5
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 29, 2021
Public Health Order Restrictions for Greater Sydney and elsewhere in NSW, updated 29 July 2021 at:
https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/greater-sydney
https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/what-you-can-do-nsw
DAY 44: as of 8pm Thursday 29 July 2021, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the Delta Variant Outbreak in NSW now totals 2,980 people - inclusive of 13 deaths. There are currently 187 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 58 people in intensive care, 24 of whom require ventilation.
DAY 45: as of 8pm Friday 30 July 2021, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the Delta Variant Outbreak in NSW now totals 3,190 people - inclusive of 13 deaths. There are currently 203 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 53 people in intensive care, 27 of whom require ventilation.
DAY 46: as of 8pm Saturday 31 July 2021, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the Delta Variant Outbreak in NSW now totals 3,427 people - inclusive of 14 deaths. There are currently 222 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 54 people in intensive care, 25 of whom require ventilation.
In the last 7 days community transmission of the predominately Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has grown by 1,201 men, women and children and the NSW COVID-19 death toll has risen by 7 individuals.
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