Newcastle, Hunter join Sydney in lockdown
People in Newcastle and the Hunter region have joined Greater Sydney in lockdown after NSW suffered its darkest day of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The one-week snap lockdown was called after five new cases turned up in Newcastle and eight more were found in the Central Coast region.
The state saw 262 new local cases reported on Wednesday, of which at least 72 were in the community while infectious.
Five people died in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday - three men in their 60s, a man in his 70s and a woman in her 80s. None were fully vaccinated.
It was the deadliest day of the pandemic, and recorded the highest daily number of cases.
Also in NSW, a 34-year-old woman died of a rare clotting syndrome caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Therapeutic Goods Administration reported on Thursday.
Six people have now died from the condition, out of about 6.8 million vaccine doses.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says vaccination is the way out of the crisis which has shut down Greater Sydney for almost six weeks.
She said restrictions will remain in some form until 80 per cent of people are vaccinated, and wants 50 per cent jabbed by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, developers are warning they'll need to put people out of work if restrictions remain in place past August.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia surveyed its members, with a quarter saying they'll need to make large cuts to their workforces if restrictions go on any longer.
One third of housing construction sites in NSW are still closed, the institute says.
Developers are operating at half capacity on average for sites that are open, with many workers kept off-site by extra restrictions that apply to eight local government areas of concern.
UDIA chief executive officer Steve Mann wants the government to allow workers - who have had two jabs - to leave their LGAs to work at the end of August.
Greater Sydney will be subject to stay-at-home orders until at least August 28.
The lockdown of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Singleton, Dungog, Muswellbrook and Cessnock is set to lift on August 13.
