27 more deaths recorded in NSW, alongside 11,807 new COVID-19 cases
New South Wales has recorded 27 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours and a further 11,807 cases.
This is a decline from yesterday when 30 deaths and 12,818 COVID-19 infections were reported.
Hospitalisations are down slightly from 2749, with 2622 people currently receiving care. There are 170 in ICU.
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Top doc issues booster plea
The NSW President of the Australian Medical Association is urging eligible residents to get their booster vaccine as soon as they recover from a COVID-19 infection.
The message comes after it was revealed NSW and Victoria are both lagging behind in the booster rollout.
For weeks the NSW triple-jabbed rate has struggled to reach the 40 per cent mark.
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For weeks the NSW triple-jabbed rate has struggled to reach the 40 per cent mark. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Aged and Community Services Australia estimates one in ten aged care residents are yet to receive their booster shot.
Currently there are more than 11,000 active infections in residents and workers in NSW across 555 homes.
Dr Danielle McMullen suspects that lag is mostly due to people pushing pause on a third vaccine booking after contracting the virus, as the state government says one can wait four to six weeks post-infection.
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Danielle McMullen dispelled the myth people who have recovered from COVID-19 should wait four to six weeks to get a third jab. Today
"A number of people in NSW and Victoria have been caught short by catching COVID and delaying their booster. You can get this booster coverage across multiple strains," she told Today.
"Getting the illness does give you some short-term protection against Omicron but we don't know what it does for those future variants.
"The best advice, still get your booster".
It comes as thousands of school students dusted off their backpacks and returned to in-class learning yesterday.
Experts are predicting students' return could lead to a spike in cases, however infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy is hopeful a rise in infections will be minimal.
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Robert Booy predicts a spike in cases will only last for about two weeks. Today
"We are going to have a spike," he told Today adding parents should keep monitoring for symptoms and testing regularly.
"But so many people are vaccinated, and so many more will be soon, and so many people are not susceptible because they have been vaccinated or because they have had the disease."
A double-vaccinated man in his 30s with no underlying health conditions were among the state's 30 COVID-related deaths yesterday.
Amid stabilising hospitalisation numbers Health Minister Brad Hazzard yesterday announced non-urgent elective surgery will resume in a phased approach from February 7.
The surgeries will be back to 75 per cent in private and regional public hospitals next week.
"Management of each city hospital will make that decision as to when they are ready," Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
Dr McMullen said she recognises the need for the pause but it's time to find other ways of managing hospital strain moving forward.
"We've got that uncertainty about what about the next wave? How are we going to manage winter when we have flu and potentially more coronavirus?
"We really do need a longer term solution and some reassurance that we are not going to keep pressing pause on surgery, and other aspects of healthcare, every time that we get a wave of COVID infections," she said.
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