The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in NSW has passed 3000, while the state toll has hit 36 after a sixth resident of a western Sydney aged care home died.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The NSW government, meanwhile, has tipped almost $400 million into local councils across the state for community infrastructure projects and wage bill relief.
An 82-year-old man who resided at Newmarch House in Caddens - where almost 50 people have been infected - died on Saturday, operator Anglicare Sydney said.
This follows the death of a 96-year-old woman on Friday, a woman in her late 70s on Thursday and earlier fatalities of a woman and two men aged in their 90s.
The facility is the state's largest ongoing cluster, with some 31 of the almost 100 residents having been infected as well as 17 staff members.
Eight new cases of the coronavirus were on Sunday confirmed in NSW, taking the state total to 3002 with 19 people currently in intensive care.
There are fewer than 800 current cases of COVID-19 in NSW.
Among those new cases was a medical worker at Nepean Hospital who had not been in contact with patients for 48 hours before symptom onset. Two staff members are in isolation, as are eight staff members at the Sydney Adventist Hospital.
On Saturday, an aged care worker at Catholic Healthcare Bodington in the Blue Mountains also tested positive for coronavirus but had not contacted residents within 48 hours of showing symptoms. Some 20 residents have tested negative to the virus.
"Whilst this is a particularly difficult and challenging virus, we also know it still hasn't managed to get through the community in NSW, indeed Australia, to the extent it certainly has in other jurisdictions," NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters.
"We're keeping in fairly low numbers."
Mr Hazzard reiterated that NSW residents should continue following social distancing measures and frequently washing their hands.
As part of the council stimulus package, the NSW government on Sunday pledged an additional $250 million in low-cost loans to spur community infrastructure investment and also more than $110 million on a job-retention fund for council workers.
The "Council Job Retention Allowance" of $1500 per fortnight would be paid for up to three months to eligible staff in the NSW local government sector.
Council workers were not granted access to the federal government's JobKeeper program.
"Our state's 128 local councils are a critical part of the NSW economy, especially in many regional and rural towns where they are sometimes the largest employer," NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said in a statement on Sunday.
"This is about keeping people in jobs which will allow councils to continue to provide essential services in their communities throughout the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and bounce back faster once we come out the other side."
The peak body for NSW councils, Local Government NSW, welcomed the announcement, saying in a statement councils were eager to contribute to the post-pandemic recovery.
Australian Associated Press
