Dr Femi Olutayo (left) gives Ty Boney aged 15yrs (centre) and his father Curtis Boney from Brewarrina COVID-19 tests after they both received their first shot of a vaccination at the Ochre Medical Centre in Brewarrina.

Dr Femi Olutayo (left) gives Ty Boney aged 15yrs (centre) and his father Curtis Boney from Brewarrina COVID-19 tests after they both received their first shot of a vaccination at the Ochre Medical Centre in Brewarrina.Credit:Kate Geraghty

Although there are not yet any cases in Brewarrina,more than 760 kilometres from Sydney in north-western NSW,people have tested positive in the neighbouring towns of Walgett and Bourke. This has resulted in fear among locals,particularly with the speed of the spread in Dubbo,which on Tuesday recorded another 16 cases,bringing the total in the region to 116.

“Listening to the news,it’s getting too close to Bre,” Mr Boney said. “I didn’t think it was gonna come up this far.”

The Boney household contains six people,spanning three generations. Mr Boney said getting vaccinated is “the only thing keeping us alive”.

His 15-year-old son Ty said he was feeling “nervous” about how close the virus is,but he’s enjoying lockdown. “Can’t get him off Fortnite,this fella,” Mr Boney said.

The Ochre Health clinic in Brewarrina has administered more than 70 doses to locals since receiving its Pfizer supply on Friday.

Practice manager Vivian Slack-Smith said they have another 40 patients booked in for Wednesday and are taking walk-ins.

Members of the Boney family wait for other relatives outside the Ochre medical centre.

Members of the Boney family wait for other relatives outside the Ochre medical centre.Credit:Kate Geraghty

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She said people in town are taking the stay-at-home orders and call-out for vaccinations very seriously.

“I think they’re quietly confident that we’ll get on top of it. I haven’t heard too much doom and gloom,” Ms Slack-Smith said.

Dubbo mayor Stephen Lawrence said the community’s response,including almost half the region’s population turning out for testing,had been “absolutely extraordinary”.

“It’s exactly what the western health authorities have asked us to do and the community has done it,” he said.

Mr Lawrence said he was pleased to see numbers on Tuesday were lower than Monday’s,saying “we can get on top of this,and the way to get on top of this is to comply with the lockdown”.

“This is not a punishment,it is a community effort,” he said.

To assist the vaccination rollout and testing on the ground,the federal government is sending five defence force vaccination teams into western NSW,to be based in Dubbo. Up to five Australian Medical Assistance Teams will also be sent to the region. These teams will include medics,nurses,logistics,a clinical lead and pharmacist.

The empty streets of Walgett.

The empty streets of Walgett.Credit:Kate Geraghty

Mr Lawrence welcomed the additional support on the way from the ADF:“The community has nothing to fear from the ADF,they will be here in a supporting role.”

The pop-up vaccination clinic that ran from Friday to Monday in Walgett had almost 900 people attend,a spokeswoman for Western NSW LHD said. Elsewhere,a vaccination clinic in Bourke has administered 140 vaccinations over the past two days.

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Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said “literally thousands” of vaccinations were happening in towns including Walgett,Bourke and Orana.

He hailed the collaborative effort between the Royal Flying Doctor Service,local Aboriginal medical services,NSW Health and the Defence Force.

The Royal Flying Doctors Service is also partnering with the Aboriginal Medical Service in Bourke to get vaccines into communities outside the towns. Supplies have included an additional 9480 vaccines,but if more is required,more will be provided.

Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt said part of the reason more of the Aboriginal communities in western NSW had not been vaccinated sooner was choice.

Wally Winters (left) and his brother Wayne Hames (right) with the dog Willow who are receiving their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccination at the Ochre Medical Centre in Brewarrina.

Wally Winters (left) and his brother Wayne Hames (right) with the dog Willow who are receiving their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccination at the Ochre Medical Centre in Brewarrina.Credit:Kate Geraghty

“Some people have made choices because they’ve become fearful of adverse effects. But,they are now focusing on getting vaccinated,” he said.

“In some places they thought that they would be fairly distant from what was happening in capital cities. There is now a realisation that this virus can travel anywhere because of the movement of people.”

Late Tuesday,NSW Health added new exposures sites in the state’s west where confirmed COVID cases visited.

Anyone who attended the following venues is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days since they were there:

  • Dubbo - Cross Coffee House - Wednesday,August 11,6.50am to 7.05am
  • Dubbo - Milestone Hotel - Wednesday,August 11,10am to 11am
  • Dubbo - Sid’s Bottle Shop - Wednesday,August 11,12.15pm to 12.20pm
  • Dubbo - Telstra Store,Orana Mall - Wednesday,August 11,12pm to 12.30pm
  • Mudgee RSL - Thursday,August 12,12.25pm to 2.30pm
  • Mudgee - Lawson Park Hotel - Thursday,August 12,4.05pm to 4.45pm
  • Mudgee - Smart Dollar - Friday,August 13,3.30pm to 3.45pm
  • Mudgee - Smokemart&GiftBox - Friday,August 13,4.40pm to 4.45pm
  • Broken Hill - Alfresco’s Cafe - Monday,August 16,1.55pm to 2.15pm

Meanwhile,in the Northern Territory,where more than 30 per cent of the population is Indigenous,no new cases of COVID-19 have been detected since Darwin and its surroundings were thrust into lockdown on Monday.

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