Thirty-one of the 52 people who died with Covid on NSW’s deadliest day of the pandemic were nursing home residents.
The state recorded 13,524 new cases on Sunday, up from 13,354 cases the previous day, as deaths began to peak weeks after infections curved down.
Hospitalisations were steady with 2,663 patients in NSW hospitals, with ICU numbers at 182.
Just two of the elderly patients had booster shots before they died, 20 were vaccinated, two had only one dose, and seven were unvaccinated.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said 31 of the 52 Covid-19 deaths recorded on Sunday were nursing home residents. Pictured is an elderly person with a walker
![NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney on Sunday, January 30, 2022](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/01/30/04/53537191-10456415-image-m-10_1643515376030.jpg)
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney on Sunday, January 30, 2022
Of those who died, 11 people were in their 70s, 26 people were in their 80s, 11 were in the 90s and one was aged more than 100.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant said NSW would be adjusting cut-off periods for reporting Covid-19 cases and deaths from February 1.
‘This means the reporting period information will go from 8pm close off to a 4pm close off,’ she said.
‘The reason for that is that we are transitioning our public reporting to allow our epidemiologists and surveillance officers and data analysts that have been working day and night to move into a more sustainable footing.’
Dr Chant said the changes would allow NSW Health to focus on doing more detailed epidemiology work.
She also addressed the new BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron Covid strain.
‘We have confirmed some of the BA.2 variant but there is likely to be more,’ she said.
‘We have had four sequences identified as BA.2. For clarity, this is a sub-lineage, a sort of breakaway… from the Omicron variant.
‘We know that it is circulating in countries and we have seen it grow significantly, for instance, in Denmark, it is now the dominant over BA.1.’
![NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured) made an announcement on financial support for businesses on Sunday morning](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/01/29/21/53529871-10455721-image-a-35_1643493318361.jpg)
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured) made an announcement on financial support for businesses on Sunday morning
Dr Chant said that ‘at the moment we don’t see that it is presenting anything different clinically in terms of the severity or its response to vaccine but will obviously be watchful, monitor the situation closely’.
But scientists fear it could also be even harder to track than previous strains as it can only be confirmed through lab analysis rather than a PCR test.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Sunday announced $1 billion in financial support for businesses.
Mr Perrottet told Sky News on Sunday morning he expected the number of people dying with the virus would stay steady as the country braced for flu season.
He predicted it could be ‘difficult’ to curtail new cases in upcoming cooler months.
‘This is the new world,’ the premier said. ‘We expect those (death) numbers to stay pretty consistent.
‘We look at the evidence in front of us and find a balance between the health impact, economic impact, mental health impacts and tailor our settings.’
![More than eight million rapid antigen tests have been distributed to over 3,000 NSW schools before term one starts (pictured, a Sydney testing clinic)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/01/29/21/53529547-10455721-image-a-2_1643492725999.jpg)
More than eight million rapid antigen tests have been distributed to over 3,000 NSW schools before term one starts (pictured, a Sydney testing clinic)
More than eight million rapid antigen tests have been distributed to around 3,000 NSW schools before term one of the year begins.
Education secretary Georgina Harrisson said the test distribution has been ‘one of the most challenging logistical undertakings in recent memory’.
Parents have been informed about how they can pick up rapid antigen tests before the first day of term for public school students begins on Tuesday.
Those attending private schools returned to school on Thursday.
The government released its back-to-school plan on Sunday, with advice that all students take a rapid test before the first day of term one.
As criticism grew over the distribution of tests, Mr Perrottet said on Thursday there was ‘never a requirement’ for students to be rapid tested on day one of term.
Department staff have been volunteering their time, some of them delivering tests to schools using their own cars, while one school used a ferry to get kits to families.
The back-to-school plan says testing will continue twice a week for the first four weeks of the term in a bid to reduce the number of infections entering classrooms.
Meanwhile, about one third of eligible five to 11-year-olds in NSW have received a dose of a Covid vaccine as the rollout enters its fourth week.
![The government released its back-to-school plan on Sunday, with advice that all students take a rapid test before the first day of term one (pictured, a shopper walks in Sydney)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/01/29/22/53529879-10455721-image-a-37_1643495187654.jpg)
The government released its back-to-school plan on Sunday, with advice that all students take a rapid test before the first day of term one (pictured, a shopper walks in Sydney)
The premier said on Friday as school returned and people went back to the office there was ‘no doubt’ case numbers would increase.
He added our ‘health care system, hospitalisations and ICU’ are in a ‘strong position’ to handle a possible rise in cases.
‘Living alongside the virus means there will be cases of the virus in the community each and every day.
‘When mobility increases, case numbers increase. That is the model we’ve moved to in NSW, Australia and around the world.’
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