People in Sydney's COVID hotspots should wear masks, Australia's chief infection control advisers say, after a string of new suburbs reported confirmed cases.
The Prestigious Australian Club - a private gentleman's club on Macquarie Street, and a favourite haunt of former prime ministers, is the latest Sydney venue to close after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
Pedestrians wear masks in North Sydney on Friday. Credit:Renee Nowytarger
NSW reported 21 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. Eight people are now in NSW intensive care units, up from five cases on Thursday. Four are on ventilators.
Victoria experienced its second-worst day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday, with 627 new cases. But Premier Daniel Andrews said he would not be enforcing harsher lockdown measures after announcing on Thursday that masks would become compulsory across the state .
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said people in Sydney hotspots should also consider wearing masks.
"Particularly when people are outside their homes and in areas where physical distancing may be difficult, Professor Kidd said.
"That, of course, includes when you go into the supermarket, where there's lots of people moving around and people may come closer to you than the 1.5 metres, that people should be considering wearing masks," he said.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant also urged the community to wear a mask when unable to socially distance while NSW Health is "putting out spot fires".
The federal government’s Infection Control Expert Group chair Professor Lyn Gilbert backed moves to introduce mask-wearing in areas of Sydney with signs of community transmission.
Masks were no substitute for other precautions higher up the “hierarchy of infection control”, namely staying home when sick, social distancing where possible and good hand and respiratory hygiene, she said.
Professor Gilbert - also an infectious disease expert at the Marie Mashir Institute of Emerging Infections and Biosecurity - said we were in a relatively enviable position of having "a pretty good handle on where the outbreaks are, and rapidly containing them."
"It makes sense to try and limit transmissions even further by asking people to wear masks who could have been exposed and could be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic in those areas," she said.
“I do fear, and I believe it’s a plausible fear, that having a mask on can well give people a false sense of security ... but we recognise that sometimes they are not possible and a mask can be a useful supplement, particularly when community transmission is happening,” she said.
Pedestrians wear face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus at Town Hall in Sydney's CBD.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
Supermarket giant Woolworths announced it would also strongly recommend customers in NSW, ACT and Queensland hotspots wear face masks.
Surgical masks were “perfectly adequate” and there was no reason to believe homemade cloth masks would not offer some protection, though there was no strong evidence supporting them, Professor Gilbert said.
Professor Gilbert advised mask-wearers not to fiddle with the face covering, to wash reusable masks after every use and throw out disposable masks after one use.
The Darlo Bar has been shut for deep cleaning due to a customer testing positive to coronavirus.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
She warned against buying N95 masks - the high-grade masks used by hospital staff in close contact with COVID-19 patients.
“They are not the safest way to go,” Professor Gilbert said, considering they required special training to fit correctly.
The ACT government strongly advised Canberrans not to travel to Sydney except for essential reasons.
In a statement, The Australian Club said it had "decided to act with an abundance of caution" and would close until Tuesday for a clean after a staff member who had visited the Apollo restaurant in Potts Point - the epicentre of a COVID cluster - tested positive.
The Australian Club has been closed due to the outbreak. Credit:Jacky Ghossein
The staff member was at the club on Monday 27th of July between 6am and 9.30am," the club said.
Founded in 1838, the club counts some of the country's highest-profile men among its members and frequenters. On Wednesday July 22, former prime minister Tony Abbott, Cardinal George Pell and former 2GB host Alan Jones reportedly had dinner at the club.
Dr Chant revealed the two Thai Rock outbreaks in Wetherill Park and Potts Point were genomically linked, and genomic sequencing had so far linked NSW's active cases to strains in Victoria.
"We are awaiting further genome sequencing to see how that's further linked to The Apollo, and we'll update the community once that data is in hand," she told 2GB on Friday morning.
Of the 21 new cases in NSW on Friday, six were associated with The Apollo restaurant linked to the Potts Point outbreak, which also includes cases from the local Thai Rock restaurant, now includes 19 cases.
The Thai Rock Wetherill Park cluster in Sydney's west swelled to 94 cases after three new cases were linked to the Our Lady of Lebanon cluster and two are linked to the restaurant.
The funeral gatherings cluster also grew to 21 cases, two cases were linked to the Mounties club in Mount Pritchard, two are in hotel quarantine and one case was acquired in Victoria.
Two cases remain under investigation, and one case was linked to another known case that remains under investigation.
People who visited businesses across Sydney suburbs including Marrickville, Crows Nest and Surry Hills were being either asked to monitor for symptoms or self isolate for 14 days after people who visited venues were later diagnosed with COVID-19.
The Darlo Bar advised a COVID-positive patron attended the venue between noon and 2pm on July 26, and a case linked to the Apollo cluster visited Harpoon and Hotel Harry in Surry Hills between 2.15pm and 11pm on July 26.
NSW Health officials say people who were at Harpoon & Hotel Harry in Surry Hills at a particular time must self-isolate.Credit:Jessica Hromas
Visitors and staff at the hotel during this time must self-isolate for 14 days and get tested, NSW Health advised.
People who visited Matinee Coffee in Marrickville on the mornings of July 26 and 27 were also asked to monitor for symptoms after a confirmed case spent a short amount of time there on both days.
Rachel Clun is a journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald.
Kate Aubusson is Health Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.
Michael Koziol is deputy editor of The Sun-Herald, based in Sydney.
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2020-07-31 03:38:00Z
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