Covid update - Wednesday

 COVID UPDATE - Wednesday February 17
 A lot has been said recently, mainly by the Victorian and QLD Premiers, about our quarantine system in NSW and our position on border closures. A lot of it is just political argy bargy, but here's a couple of facts for those interested.
 NSW has accommodated more than 128,000 returned travellers from overseas since the Covid outbreak began, and Victoria has taken just 36,000. NSW has had less than 5000 cases of Covid-19 and Victoria has had 20,500. NSW has recorded just 56 deaths and Victoria has had 820. No system is foolproof or perfect, but I think we all know which system has worked better.
 I also get asked a lot about why we continue to take in overseas travellers. The simple answer is that we only take Australian citizens and we have a constitutional obligation to do that. The Australian Constitution says we cannot deny entry to our own citizens, and we will not.
 NSW has recorded no new case of community transmission for the 31st consecutive day. Just 4 new cases among the returned overseas travellers in quarantine over the past 24 hours.
 The Hunter-New England region has now gone 195 days without a locally-acquired case.
 The number of active cases in Victoria is 25, with two more cases of community transmission recorded overnight. There are 6 in QLD, 4 in WA, 3 in SA and 4 in the NT. Tasmania, the ACT and NSW have zero active cases (NSW currently treating 26 returned travellers in quarantine.)
 Australia's death toll remains at 909 with 56 in NSW and 820 in Victoria.
 Please continue to stay safe, vigilant, maintain the social distancing, and wear a mask if you have to visit places where social distancing is difficult.
 Don't forget, if you have any symptoms, however minor, please self-isolate and get tested immediately.