Time to start child vaccinations 

NSW Health vaccination clinics across the state will begin to administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children aged five to 11 years old from tomorrow, Monday January 10.  

NSW Health is encouraging parents and caregivers to make a booking for vaccination at any NSW Health vaccination clinic, at a general practitioner, or a community pharmacy. In western plains communities vaccinations are also available at Aboriginal Medical Service clinics.

Local numbers

Warrumbungle shire continues to lead with the highest number of cases among western plains local government areas, with another 20 cases reported up to 8pm yesterday, with Walgett shire next highest with 16 new cases. 

In the Western Plains, new cases held relatively steady: 

Warrumbungle – 20 (including 8 in Coonabarabran) 

Walgett - 16 (including 1 in Collarenebri) 

Bourke -11 

Warren - 8 

Cobar - 6 

Lachlan - 6 (all in Condobolin) 

Narromine - 5 

Bogan - 3 

Brewarrina - 2 

Gilgandra - 1 

Coonamble - 1 

Latest tally for your town

Total recorded cases in towns across the western plains now range from 21 to 216, with NSW Health now tracking total and active cases, along with the number of tests conducted. 

SOURCE: nsw.gov.au

Western Region figures

Identified cases in the Western NSW Local Health District to Saturday 8 January numbered 412, with Orange numbers rising to 158, followed by the Mid Western council (Mudgee area) on 84. 

There are 17 people in hospital due to COVID, with none in intensive care, however the state saw 16 deaths yesterday, a reminder not to be complacent about the 'milder' Omicron variant. 

Across NSW, there are currently 1,927 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 151 people in intensive care, 38 of whom require ventilation. 

There were 98,986 COVID-19 tests reported in the state to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 116,915. 

Counting cases 

Yesterday, Barwon MP Roy Butler outlined his perspective on the current case numbers in NSW. 

"For a long time, there was a focus on COVID case numbers. It was a useful indicator when PCR testing was the only way of identifying cases. There was only one "gate" to count cases. Like counting sheep through a race," Mr Butler said.  

"The problem is all Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) have not formed part of the case numbers. There are also suspected to be tens of thousands of people who have Omicron, but don't know they have it. They could be asymptomatic and active in the community." 

"To put it simply - Government has lost count of cases," Mr Butler said. 

"This is not a cause to panic, more just a warning not to be overly reliant or sweating on daily case numbers. What they will show over time is increasing or decreasing numbers or "reproduction rate", for example positive results per 100,000 tests. But don't trust the actual number." 

"Experts are anticipating a peak by the end of January 2022 - over the next 2-3 weeks. In that time, just keep taking the precautions you have been," he said.