A mother-of-four from southwest Sydney has died in her home just one day after she was diagnosed with Covid-19.
Jamila Yaghi was among 12 people who were reported to have died from the virus during New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s conference on Friday.
Ms Yaghi only tested positive to Covid on August 31, but rapidly deteriorated and died in her home in southwest Sydney on September 1.
The mother-of-four was in her 30s and unvaccinated, authorities said.
She lived in Guildford until recently, and local MP Julia Finn was among dozens of friends to pay tribute to the ‘kind, loyal soul in the days after her death.
Jamila Yaghi was among 12 people who were reported to have died from the virus during New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s conference on Friday
Ms Yaghi (pictured left with a friend) only tested positive to Covid on August 31, but rapidly deteriorated and died in her home in southwest Sydney on September 1
Ms Yaghi’s family have publicly revealed she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in her home and could not be revived.
‘I’m absolutely shattered and broken,’ one friend said after learning of her death.
‘[She] had the most amazing heart and soul. She would bring laughter and joy in their lives and would forget her own grief! One of a kind.’
Ms Yaghi told friends she had been feeling unwell for several days prior to her death, but they were still shocked to learn she deteriorated so quickly.
New South Wales recorded 1,431 new Covid cases on Friday, the highest daily spike since the pandemic began.
The premier told residents to brace for higher case numbers with the worst yet to come.
Ms Yaghi told friends she had been feeling unwell for several days prior to her death, but they were still shocked to learn she deteriorated so quickly
‘As I have said previously, the best health advice I have is that we anticipate a peak in cases in the next fortnight,’ she said. ‘The next fortnight is likely to be our worst in terms of the number of cases.’
Despite the grim forecast the premier claimed the state was on track to begin reopening once it hit the 70 per cent vaccination target as soon as mid-October.
‘In the past week more than 827,000 people in New South Wales have come forward to get vaccinated,’ she said.
‘This rolling average we have consistently seen in New South Wales gives us heart and hope that around the middle of October we will see 70 per cent of our adult population fully vaccinated.’
Of the new deaths, the majority are residents from south-west Sydney. They include a woman in her 70s, a woman in her 80s, a man in his 80s, two men in his 70s, two women in their 70s, and a woman in her 60s.
Ms Yaghi’s family have publicly revealed she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in her home and could not be revived
The premier previously told 2GB that the state government was working on a road map to lift restrictions and that ‘hope is just around the corner’
A Blue Mountains man in his 90s, a south-east Sydney man in his 70s and a man in his 70s from Sydney’s north are also among the new deaths.
NSW hospitals are also bracing for a surge in hospitalisations with September and October tipped to be their busiest months.
‘I want to make very clear that every day there are models that are presented from within the experts we have in NSW, but also externally from non-government organisations,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
‘And nobody is going to get the exact figure right, no one is going to get the exact day right, but I have been very open with the information I have.’
The new cases come as residents of Sydney’s coronavirus hotspots are now allowed to exercise as much as they like outside of a curfew, after a one-hour limit was lifted.
But people living in the NSW local government areas of concern must still be at home by 9pm and cannot start going for jogs or walks before 5am.
She lived in Guildford until recently, and local MP Julia Finn was among dozens of friends to pay tribute to the ‘kind, loyal soul in the days after her death
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the easing of the exercise restriction on Thursday, the same day the state reached 70 per cent single-dose vaccination coverage of people aged 16 and over.
More than seven million jabs have been administered in NSW to date.
The milestone all but guarantees NSW will soon reach double-dose vaccination for 70 per cent of the population, triggering a wider easing of restrictions for the fully jabbed.
Ms Berejiklian also said her government would next week release its detailed plans for the health system as COVID-19 cases accumulate in the coming months.
October is likely to be the worst month for COVID-19 hospitalisations.
‘Putting it up on the website, making it publicly available so every citizen feels comfortable that not only have we done the work and planning, we have the resources to take care of the public,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
While the NSW health system can surge to 2000 ICU beds and an equivalent number of ventilators, unions and frontline healthcare staff have expressed concerns that staffing levels are not sufficient to manage this scenario.