Coronavirus Australia: Illegal gathering in Sydney leads to latest Covid death of woman in her 80s

Sydney’s latest coronavirus victim, a woman in her 80s, was found dead at the same western Sydney home where an illegal gathering last weekend spread Covid to 28 people.

The gathering was investigated by police after more than half of the 50 attendees caught the virus, with a large family group understood to have met to grieve a relative.

In a cruel twist of fate, it seems that very same gathering in Pendle Hill has resulted in the death of another family member.  

She was one of two people who died on Monday from coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in NSW from the recent outbreak, which began on June 16, to 10 as a further 18 people fight for their lives on ventilators. 

NSW Health confirmed the other victim was a man, also aged in his 80s, who was pronounced dead at Campbelltown Hospital.

It comes after stark warnings from health officials not to ‘intermingle’ with family members outside your household as the highly infectious Indian Delta strain continues to surge across the Harbour City.

Emergency personnel are pictured arriving at the scene in Pendle Hill where a woman in her 80s died of Covid at the same home where an illegal family gathering was held last weekend

Police are parked outside the Pendle Hill home in Sydney where a woman in her 80s died of Covid-19 - the same house where 28 people caught the virus last weekend

Police are parked outside the Pendle Hill home in Sydney where a woman in her 80s died of Covid-19 – the same house where 28 people caught the virus last weekend

Police and emergency personnel were photographed outside the Pendle Hill home where the woman’s body was discovered on Monday afternoon.

It is that same address where one week earlier on July 19, a large group of grieving family members gathered to mourn the death of another relative, which was not Covid-related.

Since that time, 28 people who were at the home have now returned a positive test for the Indian Delta variant.

Police blocked off the road on Monday night, while devastated relatives sat outside in the front yard.

It is the second time someone has died after catching the virus from family, after Saeeda Akobi Jjou Stu, who lived in Green Valley, died three days after testing positive (pictured, Covid testing in Fairfield)

It is the second time someone has died after catching the virus from family, after Saeeda Akobi Jjou Stu, who lived in Green Valley, died three days after testing positive (pictured, Covid testing in Fairfield)

Neighbours said they noticed a large number of cars pull up on their street that day in breach of Sydney’s strict lockdown laws, but did not report the household to police because they were aware that a loved one had died.  

‘We saw the police here the first time and the body being carried out,’ a neighbour told the Daily Telegraph.

‘There were heaps of people coming in and out, three or four at a time, but I didn’t want to say anything because they had just lost someone. It is very sad.’  

It is the second time someone has died after catching the virus from family, after Saeeda Akobi Jjou Stu, who lived in Green Valley, died three days after testing positive.

Her twin sons, infected removalists Roni and Ramsin Shawka, as well as her husband also have the virus. 

Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Saturday sent out an ominous warning to families in western Sydney, pleading with them to follow Sydney’s strict stay-at-home measures. 

A man in his 80s also died from Covid at Campbelltown Hospital (pictured) on Monday

A man in his 80s also died from Covid at Campbelltown Hospital (pictured) on Monday

‘We really need our community, particularly in southwestern and western Sydney, to stay at home, to hear the message and stay at home,’ he said.

‘And don’t intermingle with family members from other households.

‘It will continue to cause massive grief here in Sydney, particularly in western and southwestern Sydney, if family members mix with family members from other households.

‘Just please, stop doing it. Stop.’

NSW Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Jeremy McAnulty noted he was particularly ‘concerned’ by the gathering at Pendle Hill.

‘Families coming together, even in tragic times can actually, when you are naturally grieving, can be a risk where Covid can easily take hold and spread among family members and then out to their households and further afield,’ he said.

Adriana Midori Takara, 38 (pictured), returned a positive test for the highly infectious Indian Delta variant on July 15 and succumbed to her illness less than two weeks later

Adriana Midori Takara, 38 (pictured), returned a positive test for the highly infectious Indian Delta variant on July 15 and succumbed to her illness less than two weeks later

The news comes after the death of Adriana Midori Takara on Sunday, a 38-year-old Brazilian student who was living in Sydney’s CBD and in the final year of a Masters degree in accounting.

A second woman, aged in her 70s, was also announced to have died from Covid that same day.    

Sydney recorded 145 new Covid-19 cases overnight, with 51 people out in the community while infectious.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a press conference on Monday morning that the source of the infection for 79 of the new cases is still under investigation. 

Fifty-five of the cases are linked to household contacts of known cases, and nine were other close contacts.

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Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the number of unvaccinated people over the age of 60 is ‘distressing’ and urged everyone in the age bracket to make an appointment immediately. 

It is not yet known if the two latest death had received a jab or if they had any underlying medical conditions. 

‘When I review the numbers, to see how few over even 60-year-olds and over 70-year-olds we have managed to reach,’ Dr Chant said.

‘For me, anyone who is over 60 or over 70 should be going to their doctor as a matter of urgency, or their pharmacist which will be opening up across the state in coming days and get a dose of vaccine.’

Sydney recorded 145 new Covid-19 cases overnight, with 51 people out in the community while infectious (pictured, Bondi Beach locals are seen strolling by the water on Monday)

Sydney recorded 145 new Covid-19 cases overnight, with 51 people out in the community while infectious (pictured, Bondi Beach locals are seen strolling by the water on Monday)

Dr Chant speculated that NSW could administer more than 350,000 vaccines a day if there were no issues with supplies, but that the state would have to make do with the current shortage of Pfizer. 

‘There are priority groups, some of which are the responsibility of the Commonwealth, such as disability and aged care that we want to make sure are absolutely vaccinated,’ she said. 

She also said the jab will be available on a walk-in basis in some health clinics in an effort to target vulnerable groups, in a policy shift that will be announced on Tuesday.

It is unclear as to whether people under 40 will be able to get AstraZeneca without an appointment.

Ms Berejiklian said she ‘argued my little heart out’ for more Pfizer jabs during national cabinet on Friday, but that health authorities would focus on the distribution of the jabs – ensuring they are given to young workers, which Dr Chant agreed with. 

Pictured: A graphic showing the number of infections per day in Sydney's current outbreak, which grew by 145 cases on Monday

Pictured: A graphic showing the number of infections per day in Sydney’s current outbreak, which grew by 145 cases on Monday

‘It makes sense. The only people that are actually moving about are those essential workers,’ the health officer said.

‘People that are working in logistics and distribution, critical workers that come from that area that supports Sydney and even NSW and beyond.

‘It is important that we consider how vaccinating that group would potentially prevent transmission.’ 

Ms Berejiklian did not specify whether Greater Sydney would come out of lockdown after July 30, but her government has requested financial modelling that would assess the devastating effect of extending the restrictions to September 17. 

‘Please be assured that our mission is to keep the community safe as possible, while allowing people to live as freely as possible,’ she said.

‘In the next few days we will continue to look at the existing settings to give people certainty on what life in New South Wales beyond July 31 looks like.

‘It is really important for people not to leave home unless they absolutely have to and, in particular, do not mingle.’  

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