More NSW COVID cases and bigger lockdown areas as Delta spreads

CORONAVIRUS databases are commonplace now, but one of the earliest, from the Johns Hopkins University, remains a benchmark for speed and accuracy,

This week, the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 dashboard tweaked its front-page presentation, ranking nations by case numbers over the past 28 days, rather than cases overall, which had been the metric since the dashboard began.

The United States tops both measures, with 2.1 million cases in the past 28 days and 36.1 million overall.

COVID GLOBALLY:

• Latest on world coronavirus spread
  
• UK claims 4.8 per cent economic growth in 2^nd quarter
  
• WHO trial of three anti-inflammatory drugs against coronavirus
  
• South Korea sets case record
  
• Facebook and Instagram remove hundreds of Russian anti-vax accounts
  

Number two on the list is our near northern neighbour Indonesia, courtesy of 1.1 million cases in the past 28 days.

NEW NUMBERS: Screenshot of part of the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard, showing the new 28-day measures. Picture: Courtesy JHU

On the old measure, Indonesia was in 14^th spot but 40 per cent of its overall 3.7 million cases have come in the past month.

The newly presented case and death numbers further drive home the benefits of vaccination.

Just under 60 per cent of the US population has had one shot and 50 per cent are fully vaccinated.

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY DASHBOARD IS HERE

Indonesian rates are estimated at between 10 per cent and 14 per cent.

In the past 28 days, Indonesia recorded 42,400 deaths, while the US, with twice as many cases, had 10,456 fatalities.

Indonesia's present death rate, then, is eight times as great as America's: 3.8 per cent to 0.48 per cent.

SIGN SAYS: This empty Maitland highway shot shows the message is being driven home. Picture: Simone De Peak

Just as importantly, the overwhelming majority of US deaths and hospitalisations are among the unvaccinated.

Yesterday's federal Health Department update says 46 per cent of Australians over 16 have had one shot, with 24 per cent fully vaccinated.

The Johns Hopkins dashboard shows Australia with 5948 cases and 33 deaths in 28 days, for a fatality rate of 0.55 per cent.

Our domestic COVID policies are still driven by suppression, which effectively means eradication.

Hence the extended Hunter lockdown, and new lockdown areas in western NSW and the ACT, as Delta defies our best efforts to corral it.

NSW Health figures show 934 cases last week had a known source, almost twice the 583 with an unknown source.

This week, the unknown-source cases have passed the known, 1106 to 1027.

BREAKDOWN: NSW Health numbers yesterday, showing rise of 'unknown' source cases in the second column.

COVID HERE:

• Australian coronavirus snapshot
• Trans-Tasman coronavirus travel bubble looking unlikely
• NSW rules out state-wide lockdown for now
  
• Study shows lockdown 'Groundhog Day' effect is real
• 345 new community cases and two deaths in NSW

Almost all measures of this outbreak are heading the wrong way.

Some traders have done well out of the pandemic but most businesses have not.

Having hit the stimulus pumps last year, Canberra and the states insist the latest "targeted' measures are working.

As the lockdowns drag on, help isn't about stimulus, but another S-word. Survival.

ISSUE: 39,642

"Ps AND QUEUES: P-plated driver about to turn into this suburban Newcastle COVID test centre. Picture: Simone De Peak