Sadly, NSW Health is reporting the deaths of four people with COVID-19, two men and two women. Two people were aged in their 70s, one in their 80s, and one in their 90s.
Three people had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and one person had received three doses.
This includes a woman in her 90s from western Sydney who died at Bolton Clarke Cabrini Aged Care Facility in Westmead. It is the first death linked to an outbreak at this facility.
NSW Health expresses its sincere condolences to their loved ones.
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These are still all Delta and weâre bound to have less deaths when Omicron finally kicks in.
Theyâve now had at least 1 death every day for the past 8 days running. That hasnât happened since November 12.
But this is Delta. Definitely Delta.
I wouldnât say weâd have less overall deaths from Omicron, because case numbers are so high, but less deaths per case from Omicron. And those who are attributing all current deaths to Omicron are jumping the gun, because we still have background deaths from Delta, which are at a greater rate per case.
All of this is to say, I think many people were looking at low Omicron numbers and attributing Delta deaths to those numbers when we hadnât had enough time to see those yet.
I think from the UKâs latest reports, itâs likely Omicron deaths start off low while cases are in the younger cohort, then climb as they make their way into the older population.
The best news is that vaccines seem to be reducing deaths by a lot, even if theyâre not stopping the spread. Small mercies perhaps, but you have to look for the positives when youâre facing a mountain of cases on the way.