BREAKING! Two New Cases of Covid-19 Diagnosed in the Hunter

BY ISABEL EVERETT

NSW Health have reported two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Hunter.

The first is a man in his 60s who is part of the known family cluster in Port Stephens and he remains in isolation.

Hunter New England Health are currently working to identify all close contacts of the case, who are being placed in isolation.

The Port Stephens family cluster, which includes seven cases, is linked to the Thai Rock Wetherill Park cluster.

The second confirmed case is a man in his 40s who is a returned overseas traveler.

The man is a resident of the Hunter New England region, however, has remained in hotel quarantine in Sydney since his return.

It comes as NSW Health confirmed there had been 18 new cases diagnosed in the state between 8pm on July 28 and 8pm on July 29.

High Capacity Drive-Through Covid Testing Clinic Opening at Warners Bay, No Booking or GP Referral Required

BY ISABEL EVERETT

A high capacity drive-through Covid-19 testing clinic, which patients can attend without an appointment or doctors referral is opening in Warners Bay.

Local Newcastle family owned business Medtech, and 4Cyte Pathology have worked with Hunter New England Health, to open the clinic on Thursday 30th July.

The clinic will operate at Central Church, 290 Hillsborough Road, Warners Bay.

The clinic will be open from 8am - 4pm on weekdays, and from 8am -11am on Saturdays, and will be closed on Sundays.

"The Warners Bay drive-thru is the first of its kind in the region where patients can attend without either an appointment or a Doctor’s referral. Patients can simply attend at their convenience," Medtech and 4Cyte said in a statement.

This drive through clinic aims to reduce the number of patients attending GP clinics, before they have been cleared of COVID 19.

It also aims to reduce crowding at local hospital testing centers and increase regional testing capability.

Patients will received their negative testing results via a direct-to-patient SMS.

Testing is available for all ages including infants.

For more information please visit: www.medtechservices.net.au

Feel like everyone around you is sick? Well it's been the worst flu season on record.

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE and JESSICA ROUSE

It's been confirmed: NSW has just recorded its worst flu season on record, with 64 more cases than last year reported across the Hunter New England region.

In the Hunter alone 3,300 cases have been reported.

There are four strains of the virus circulating the country, with almost half of all national sufferers in NSW. It's thought that because of international travel, strains can travel around the world more easily - when there's an outbreak in the southern hemisphere, it almost certainly travels to the northern hemisphere.

Shadow Health Minister Walt Secord says people suffering from flu symptoms are clogging up our hospital systems more and more.

"Emergency departments should be for heart attacks, car accidents, major trauma so when people get really really sick from the flu it puts an impact on our emergency departments and we have a situation where emergency departments around the state are at breaking point - I know that Calvary Mater Hospital has had a particularly difficult time with the flu season this year."

Walt Secord says our hospitals are struggling to meet demand and in the Hunter New England there are more flu-related ambulance arrivals than in Central Sydney.

"The Berejiklian government was caught completely unprepared - the outbreaks have put enormous pressure on the hospital system when they could have in fact embarked on a vaccination program to encourage people to get their vaccinations. So next year lets hope they get a vaccination program started around May so we can avoid this - the last thing we want to see is our hospitals chock full of people with flu symptoms."

The Hunter is an obesity 'hot spot'

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Hunter has been labelled as an obesity 'hot spot' above the state's average, as the obesity crisis increases across Australia

Kidney Health Australia released a one off report yesterday revealing the link between obesity and what is known as the silent killer: chronic kidney disease.

The Hunter New England and Central Coast region was shown to have an obesity rate of 68 per cent and a 12 per cent rate of chronic kidney disease. Both statistics are well above the state average of 63 per cent for obesity, and 10 per cent for kidney disease.

Medical Advisor and Board Member for Kidney Health Australia Jonathon Craig, says no matter your age now, the older you get the greater chance you have of becoming a statistic of obesity and kidney disease.

"As people get older, rates of obesity increase which is broadly consistent with what's happening in chronic kidney disease where the rates increase over time and are particularly prevalent in those aged over 60 or more."

According to the report, overweight people are 1.5 times more likely to develop kidney disease and for obese people the rate drastically doubles.

Kidney Health Australia CEO Mikaela Stafrace says "in obese people the kidneys have to work harder, filtering more blood than normal," and this increase in the kidney's function "can damage the kidneys - effectively shutting them down - and cause kidney disease".