To many people COVID-19 may feel like a thing of the past but each week there are still thousands of new cases and many deaths.

In a snap shot of last week in New South Wales we can see the from NSW Health, the current statistics around the virus.

There were 12,393 new cases in New South Wales in the 7 days leading up to 4pm Friday, April 20 7,273 were confirmed by PCR and 5,120 confirmed by Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). This figure is well up on last weeks total of 9,636 cases.

Three-hundred and thirty-six of the new cases were in Northern NSW.

NSW Police say a woman died following a two-vehicle crash on the weekend.

About 2.30pm on Saturday, 22 April, emergency services responded to reports of two vehicles colliding at the intersection of Parkes Drive and Ducat Street, Tweed Heads.

A female driver aged 50 of one of the vehicles died at the scene.

The 18-year-old male driver of the other vehicle was uninjured. He was taken to The Tweed Hospital for mandatory testing.

Officers from Tweed-Byron Police District have commenced an investigation into the circumstances of the crash and will prepare a report for the information of the coroner.

As inquiries continue police are urging anyone who may have information or any mobile phone/dashcam footage about the crash to contact Tweed Heads Police Station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The post Fatal vehicle crash Tweed Heads appeared first on The Echo.

The best way to learn some things is by hands-on experience and during the first weekend in May rescue agencies will have that opportunity during a road rescue competition.

Five teams of firefighters will represent Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) in a multi-agency State Road Crash Rescue Challenge next month at Coffs Harbour.

The FRNSW crews from Dubbo, Wyong, Ulladulla, Region South and Region North, which includes the Northern Rivers, will compete against eight teams from the State Emergency Service (SES), two from the Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA) and one from Victorias Country Fire Authority (CFA) in a series of events being held over the Saturday May 6 and Sunday 7 May weekend at the Coffs Harbour International Stadium.

Crushed cars to replicate crash scenarios

Challenge organisers have gathered 55 cars to be crushed by an excavator to replicate different car crash scenarios.

The vehicles will then be cut apart in simulated rescue competitions.

According to the competition rules, each rescue crew of six first responders has just 30 minutes to carry out its tasks under the watchful eye of competition assessors, judging the teams direction, technical competency and medical know-how.

In addition to two main car crash events, the teams will also compete in a trauma challenge, a first aid emergency, an...

The Northern Rivers Harvest Food Trail organisers are doing a hell of a lot of food, beverage and farm prep for their big even on the weekend of May 6 and 7.

This year Lismore City Council is co-sponsoring the event creating the opportunity for a record number of Lismores food producers to be involved.

The Trail is an annual event which showcases unique local food and beverage producers and has become a major tourism drawcard for the entire region.

Promoting amazing farmers

Northern Rivers Food Trail Coordinator Lorissa Barrett said the Harvest Food Trail provides a much-needed opportunity to promote the amazing farmers, produce and food establishments after they were hit by COVID-19 followed by the February 2022 natural disaster. Businesses in the food trail all offer something outside the usual, such as farm tours, pick your own experiences, sampling, demonstrations, sit-down meals with producer talks, behind-...