Sunday marked the second consecutive day of cases above 1,000 in New South Wales, with the state recording 1,218 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
Another six deaths were also reported, involving three people in their 70s and three in their 80s, none of whom were inoculated.
The new case tally is the largest daily one ever recorded in an Australian jurisdiction, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian saying she expects the hospital system will be even more under strain in the next couple of months.
But the Premier focused on a different number breaking the state’s records: the total of 834,000 people who received a vaccine dose in the past 7 days.
“It is an outstanding result, it has broken all our records,” she said.
“As a result, 65 per cent of our population have had at least one dose and 35 per cent of our population is fully vaccinated.”
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There are currently 813 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including 126 in intensive care, of whom 54 are being ventilated.
Meanwhile, police are investigating an alleged arson attack at a COVID-19 testing clinic in Sydney’s west.
The fire, which is being treated as suspicious by authorities was discovered by officers who were patrolling the area on Saturday night at around 11pm.
“Upon arrival, officers from Nepean Police Area Command found a demountable building well alight. The fire was extinguished by Fire and Rescue NSW,” a statement reads.
Let's hope @nswpolice apprehend these muppets quickly, we can't risk them potentially, doing more damage in the community. #COVID19nsw #nswlockdown
NSW Police investigate alleged arson attack on COVID-19 clinic in St Marys – ABC News https://t.co/5zvl9Awft4— Richard Ramnac (@richramo) August 29, 2021
The clinic on Forrester Road in North St Marys remains functional, while no testing swabs were destroyed.
In searching the surrounding area, police found graffiti on a separate building, with messages described by Nepean Police Area Command Crime Manager Detective Inspector Jason Pietruszka as “anti-government and anti-COVID”.
Some of the graffiti read: “COVID-19 is a lie. People wake up now. Fight the system. Revolt.
“F**k the system, f**k Gladys.”
Authorities urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
