Healthy DOUBLE VACCINATED man DIES OF COVID
Young vaccinated man with no underlying health conditions has died with Covid
Fully-vaccinated man in his 20s with no underlying health conditions dies with Covid in NSW - as the state records 34,994 new infections
Young vaccinated man with no underlying health conditions has died with Covid
There are 1,609 NSW residents in hospital and 131 patients in intensive care units
NSW Premier has announced non-urgent elective surgeries may soon be paused
Scott Morrison announced six million vulnerable Aussies would get free RATs
National cabinet meeting resulted in major overhaul to country's testing system
By OLIVIA DAY and ELIZA MCPHEE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 11:38 AEDT, 6 January 2022 | UPDATED: 12:43 AEDT, 6 January 2022
A man in his 20s has died with Covid in New South Wales, as the state detected 34,994 new cases on Thursday.
The young man, who was from the ACT, was double vaccinated and had no underlying health conditions, NSW Health said on Thursday.
He died at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.
There were four other men and one woman who died on Wednesday in NSW, they were aged in their 60s, 80s and 90s.
Two were from the Lake Macquarie area and three were from Western Sydney.
Hospitalisations in NSW still remains steady with 1,609 patients receiving care, up from 1,491 on Wednesday. ICU rates in NSW have risen by 12 to a total of 131.
It comes as Premier Dominic Perrottet announced elective surgery could yet again be paused amid rising hospitalisation rates.
'During the Delta outbreak, and the year before, we suspended elective surgery for a period of time,' Mr Perrottet said on 2GB radio on Thursday morning.
'That is certainly something we are looking at now.'
'At the moment the healthcare system is strong, but we will need to make some changes - I suspect on elective surgery and I would also expect in terms of our work with the private health system.'
Last July, non-urgent elective surgeries were put on pause in public hospitals across Greater Sydney during the peak of the Delta outbreak.
The premier also urged employers to stop requiring workers to return a negative test to come back to work - due to long wait times for test results.
Meanwhile, PM Scott Morrison (pictured) announced all concession card holders - more than six million Australians - will be given access to 10 free rapid antigen tests
'They should not be required to get a test ... people are being forced to either pay for a RAT or get a PCR test when they are asymptomatic,' he said.
Mr Perrottet said all leaders at an emergency National Cabinet meeting on Wednesday committed to returning students to classrooms in just a few weeks time.
It comes as parents rush to book appointments to get their children vaccinated, after the Pfizer vaccine was approved for children aged 5-11 years old.
'[The state and territory leaders] will be finalising our plan within 24 hours and hopefully next week we will have a national position in ensuring every single kid is back in the classroom on day one,' he said.
Meanwhile, Scott Morrison announced all concession card holders - more than six million Australians - will be given access to 10 free rapid antigen tests.
'Universal free access to tests was not agreed by any of the states and territories today, or the Commonwealth. I make that very clear,' he said.
The decision was made after an emergency meeting of state leaders that resulted in a major overhaul of the country's testing system.
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So they don't say what anyone actually died of..