Five new Illawarra COVID cases have been recorded as NSW inched close to 1300 cases in the latest daily update.
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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there were 1290 cases in the community, with 80 per cent of those in southwestern Sydney, and warned that October loomed as the peak of pressure on the state's hospitals.
Non-urgent elective surgeries will be suspended at Shellharbour Hospital from Wednesday, in order to free up resources for the COVID-19 response.
In the Illawarra, three of the new cases live in Wollongong, with two of those linked to a known case and one under investigation. The other two cases are in Shellharbour and are both linked to a known case.
The NSW Government has emphasised that vaccination is the road out of lockdowns for NSW, however, cannot guarantee vaccine supply.
The Wollongong vaccination hub is currently distributing about 700 doses of Pfizer vaccine per day, with an additional 200 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine available three days per week. Yet the hub has the capacity to distribute 2500 doses of vaccine per day, with adequate supply.
Mr Barilaro said that supply was up to the Federal Government. "The Federal Government controls all vaccine supply; the distribution of Pfizer vaccine is controlled by the Federal Government," he said.
He urged anyone who is able to get the Astra Zeneca vaccine to do so.
A spokesperson from the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District confirmed they have not received any additional doses of Pfizer vaccine, and that they were still waiting for advice from the Commonwealth Government.
In the meantime, a pop-up Astra Zeneca vaccination clinic will operate out of the Berkeley community centre on Thursday between 9.30am and 3pm in response to a spike in local exposure sites, including George's Fruit Shop and Continental Deli.
The Health Services Union has claimed that the Illawarra region is being left without enough paramedics, due to ambulances being sent to Sydney to assist with the worsening COVID-19 crisis.
Mr Barilaro said ambulances were a "shared resource". "Does it leave the regions vulnerable? I don't know," he said.
Labor's health spokesman and Keira MP, Ryan Park, has renewed calls for test and isolate payments to be extended to Illawarra residents. On Sunday, Mr Park said the NSW Government had made it clear the Delta strain of COVID "doesn't respect borders, and neither should financial assistance"
However, Mr Barilaro said on Monday the payments were not on the cards for the Illawarra region, due to its comparatively low case numbers.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward and Wollongong MP Paul Scully have written to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard for further clarification around rules that allows a Wollongong resident to travel to Shellharbour "to have a cup of tea" in a singles bubble but not the other way around.
"There is clearly an anomaly in the Public Health Orders ... this makes no sense, and is another example of contradictions in the orders," Mr Ward said.
Mr Barilaro said he was "more than happy" to see if an exemption was warranted.
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