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Paramedics in NSW are being stretched as the state continues to accumulate COVID-19 infections by the hundreds each day, with demand equivalent to the "busiest New Year's Eve".
There were 1035 new local infections and two more deaths reported on Saturday, taking the state's death toll from the current outbreak to 83.
The two people who died were a western Sydney woman in her 80s in Westmead Hospital and one in her 70s from the Blue Mountains at Nepean Hospital after acquiring her infection there earlier this month.
It's the fourth death linked to an outbreak at the hospital.
The state's health system continues to strain under the caseload created by the outbreak.
There are almost 800 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 125 people in intensive care and 52 ventilated.
At least two western Sydney hospitals - Westmead and Blacktown - have called "code yellows" this week as their caseload climbs.
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan on Saturday said there had been so many calls for ambulances in the past three days it was the equivalent demand on paramedics as the "busiest New Year's Eve".
On Friday alone, Mr Morgan said 450 patients required paramedic assistance for suspected or actual COVID-19.
"When we receive calls that do not require an ambulance immediately, it can have dire consequences," he said, noting an instance of an ambulance taking 25 minutes to get to an 18-year-old suffering from cardiac arrest.
Health authorities are also concerned about ever-escalating outbreaks in the state's west and far west.
Of the new cases diagnosed in NSW on Friday, 46 were diagnosed in the state's west and far west.
The state's first drive-through vaccination clinic has opened in Dubbo, as the outbreak in the regional city nears 400 cases with 34 detected on Friday.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard also on Saturday announced that from 12.01am on Friday this coming week people were allowed to get married with up to five guests, as well as people "obviously necessary for the actual service".
© AAP 2021
IMAGE CREDIT: NSW Ambulance
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An Afghan woman on an evacuation flight to Britain has given birth to a baby girl with assistance from the cabin crew, Turkish Airlines says.
Soman Noori, 26, started having contractions during the Turkish Airlines flight from Dubai to Birmingham, and gave birth as the plane flew at an altitude of 10,000 metres in Kuwaiti airspace.
Noori and her baby, who was named Havva, were both in good health, the statement said on Saturday.
The plane, which was carrying Afghan citizens who had worked with Britain in Afghanistan, landed in Kuwait as a precaution but later continued on to its destination, Turkish Airlines said.
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IMAGE CREDIT: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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South Australian authorities have identified petrol stations linked to truck drivers who travelled through three states in WA, before testing positive to COVID-19.
The two drivers were tested as part of routine surveillance in NSW on Wednesday, but being essential workers were allowed to embark on their journey through Victoria and South Australia to WA, where they arrived on Thursday night.
They received their test results on Friday and their employer informed WA Health.
On Saturday, SA Health listed two petrol stations in Port Augusta and another two in Ceduna, where the drivers are believed to have stopped on their journey through the state.
Anyone who was at the locations at the specified times must quarantine for 14 days and undergo several COVID tests during that time.
Public health alerts have already been issued in WA for a BP Truckstop in Norseman, the IOR Petroleum Fuel Station in Widgiemooltha, the Shell Fuel Station in Southern Cross, and the Mobil roadhouse in Yellowdine.
Anyone who visited the venues during the listed times must get tested and isolate for 14 days, but broader restrictions have not been introduced in the state.
Premier Mark McGowan on Friday moved to reassure West Australians the risk to the community was low, as the men had minimal contact with others.
"Both truck drivers wore masks whilst outside of the truck," he told reporters.
"They reportedly slept in their truck last night and had minimal contact with others throughout their travel."
Four people who did interact with them have been ordered into a two-week quarantine, he said.
"I've queried this with the Chief Health Officer this afternoon... we'll monitor things very carefully," he said.
The testing regime that caught the men's infection, but also allowed them to travel with a test result pending, has been successful nation-wide during the pandemic, Mr McGowan said.
"They've done nothing wrong," he said.
"We've had this in place now for well over a year.
"This is the first time, to the best of my knowledge, it's ever thrown up a positive case."
The announcement came after Friday's national cabinet meeting, at which the WA premier defended his refusal to agree to drop borders once the nation achieved 70 per cent vaccination coverage.
"The whole idea that at 70 per cent vaccination you deliberately infect people, I just can't tolerate it," he told reporters.
© AAP 2021
COVID-19 HEALTH ALERT 27 August 2021
— SA Health (@SAHealth) August 27, 2021
SA Health has identified COVID-19 exposure locations in South Australia.
If you attended an exposure location, you are required to follow the relevant health advice.
More information is available at https://t.co/BPuCyDTNqi pic.twitter.com/AE3CnW838O
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A third of Australians have taken up grocery shopping online since COVID lockdowns began in 2020.
As expected, the click-and-collect or delivery trend is even more pronounced where stay-at-home orders are harshest and longest.
A national survey by leading comparison site Finder reveals a substantial number of Australians have changed their shopping habits over the past year.
It found 33 per cent of 1015 respondents or the equivalent of 6.4 million people have turned to buying groceries online, 43 per cent of them from NSW where Sydney has been locked down for nine weeks.
Some 31 per cent of Victorians are doing likewise.
The research indicates almost two in 10 Australians now make some purchases using a keyboard or tablet. Fourteen per cent make most of them that way and seven per cent are thinking of doing so.
"Online shopping has skyrocketed since the pandemic began and supermarkets have made significant changes to their in-store experience," according to personal finance expert Kate Browne.
"Many Australians now have a huge range of meal options at their fingertips, made even easier by food boxes, meal-kits and food delivery services."
Supermarket giant Woolworths has told AAP its weekly volume of online orders has doubled in NSW areas hit hardest by lockdowns and it is seeing a broader "significant uplift" across home delivery and click-and-collect services.
The chain has doubled its online order capacity in parts of Sydney, with many orders filled from dedicated warehouses in Lidcombe, Brookvale and Mascot.
"It's not often you'll hear a retailer urge customers to spend less time shopping but that's exactly what we all need to do right now," Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Natalie Davis said in a statement.
"If you need to visit a store, please be kind to each other and our team, sign in with the government QR code and, wherever possible, have just one household member do the shopping."
The supermarket said it is offering the first pick of its online delivery times to seniors, people with a disability or compromised immunity and those in mandatory isolation.
Despite the evidence of a broad shift to online shopping, the survey showed shoppers in lockdown-free Western Australia (78 per cent) and South Australia (70 per cent) still refer to go to the supermarket.
Baby Boomers (86 per cent) are least likely to have changed their habits, despite 82 per cent of them conceding it's more efficient to shop online.
Ms Browne recommends using online shopping as a money- and time-saving tool.
"It can give you the power to hunt around for a bargain," she said.
"Meal delivery services are great for those who have larger households looking to save money, cut down on food waste and spend less time shopping and cooking."
© AAP 2021
Image: Lars Frantzen, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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