New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday (September 6) daily infections were expected to peak in the state next week, as they look to speed up immunisations ahead of easing restrictions.
Berejiklian added that the government’s modelling revealed the state would require its highest number of intensive care beds in early October, with “additional pressure on the system” in the next few weeks.
A total of 1,071 COVID-19 cases are currently in hospitals, with 177 people in intensive care (ICU). Officials have said they had quadrupled ICU beds to about 2,000 in the state early last year to handle the pandemic.
Last week, Australia also entered into vaccine swap deals with Britain and Singapore for a total of around 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, double this month’s supply. Nearly half a million doses, the first batch of shipments, arrived overnight.