The good news for the Northern Rivers is that again, we have no new cases of coronavirus in our local health district and elective surgeries will be resumed gradually.

Copvid-19 case numbers remain at 56 today, with one patient being cared for in hospital, and none in ICU. Of these 56 cases, 45 are recovered.

By source of infection, 53 cases were acquired overseas or interstate acquired, 2 were from contact of a confirmed case or in a known cluster and 1 was not identified 

Testing numbers on the rise

In the last week, the number of tests conducted in Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) has jumped from 4247 to 5268, an increase of 1021, or more than 20%

NNSWLHD chief executive Wayne Jones thanked everyone who came forward recently to get tested.

“I’m glad to see people taking responsibility for their health and for the health of those around them, by not leaving anything to chance,” he said.

Mr Jones said that while the number of cases is moving in the right direction, it’s not yet time to pull back in being vigilant about reducing community transmission.

“We continue to see reports of people being issued with infringement notices for disregarding social distancing rules, which undermines the combined hard work of the rest of our community.

“I encourage people to apply their common sense and to continue being cautious as we start to see some of the restrictions being eased.”

Gradual resumption of some Elective Surgery 

Mr Jones said NNSWLHD there will be a gradual resumption of some elective surgery, following national and state guidance.

“We’ll be first attending to those more pressing category 2 (semi-urgent) cases, with the view to provide some selected category 3 (non-urgent) surgery and procedures over the coming month,” he said.

“We’ll be closely monitoring any risk to patients and staff, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies over this period. Continuing review of elective surgery will occur to ensure there is capacity across hospitals to manage any changes in COVID-19 demand.”