Coronavirus NSW LIVE updates: Sydney records 17 COVID-19 cases; northern beaches on high alert - The Sydney Morning Herald

Summary

• Northern beaches cluster grows to 17 cases
• All residents from The Spit Bridge to Palm Beach urged to stay home for three days
• Western Australia announces new rules for NSW travellers

Pinned post from 10.17pm

Northern beaches residents urged not to leave the area

Residents of Sydney’s northern beaches have been asked to stay at home and work from home for the next three days amid a growing cluster in the area.

NSW Health said they must stick to their household group, avoid unnecessary gatherings, and avoid visiting high-risk venues including clubs, restaurants, places of worship and gyms.

“Do not visit friends or relatives in aged care facilities or hospitals unless essential,” it said. “Avoid unnecessary travel outside the northern beaches area.”

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said some cases detected today were in people who had very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.

“Don’t hesitate. Get out and get tested with the slightest possible symptoms. Even if you’re feeling just a bit tired,” he said.

His personal advice to residents was to wear a mask. Masks will be handed out to commuters at Wynyard train station, B-Line bus stops, which connect Wynyard and Mona Vale, and Circular Quay ferry wharves on Friday.

Genome sequencing is under way to confirm the cases are linked.

Contact tracers are searching for the source of a potential super-spreader event at Avalon RSL, after three patrons - a woman in her 60s, a man in his 70s, and another man in his 60s - tested positive for the virus after visiting the venue on December 11.

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‘See you in the future’: Northern beaches residents react to COVID-19 news

By Lucy Cormack

On the Manly ferry on Thursday night many commuters were only just catching up on the news urging northern beaches residents to stay put over the next three days.

“I had just walked from Paddington to the city to do my Christmas shopping when my partner rang,” said Gill Harrison from Fairlight.

Manly Corso, which is usually bustling, will likely by quiet on Friday.Credit:Dean Sewell

“It might have been the last opportunity I had for Christmas shopping. I will stay home, do the right thing. I’m supposed to be going up to Queensland to spend it with my sister and nieces. Who knows know. Will just cross my fingers and stay put.”

Michelle and John Shanahan had just enjoyed dinner at the Bennelong restaurant at the Opera House to celebrate her birthday, which is on Friday.

Mr Shanahan said he could not get a table on Friday and was asked if wanted to book for Thursday or Saturday.

“Good thing I picked Thursday,” he said.

“I feel very lucky. I think they are doing the right thing,” Mrs Shanahan added.

In Manly groups were still spilling out of restaurants and bars along the wharf around 10pm and could be heard talking about the coming three days to be spent at home.

“See you in the future, boys,” one man said.

Zero local cases for nearly two weeks in NSW

NSW had recorded zero COVID-19 community transmission since December 3 until Wednesday, when a case was discovered in a 45-year-old man who works as a van driver shuttling airline crew between Sydney Airport and their accommodation.

The graphs below from covid19data.com.au show trends in daily new cases and daily testing numbers.

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Narrabeen pub had infected patron, will undergo deep cleaning

A northern beaches pub has confirmed that a person who tested positive for COVID-19 had been on its premises on Tuesday, December 15 between 6pm and 7.30pm.

The Narrabeen Sands Hotel said it had high standards of cleaning and hygiene and the venue would undergo a deep clean overnight.

“Anyone who was at the venue during this time for an hour or more is deemed a close contact and must get tested and self isolate for 14 days,” a hotel spokesman said.

“We have provided NSW Health with contact details of staff and customers at the hotel during that period.”

‘Next 24 or 48 hours are key’: Finding index case is key to NSW cluster, says epidemiologist

By David Estcourt

Discovering who the index case is for the new cluster and what strain variant they have is the best way to quickly map the current outbreak and to stop the spread of the Sydney outbreak, says a leading epidemiologist.

Deakin University epidemiologist Professor Catherine Bennett said if the new outbreak is the same strain as the small outbreak that occurred in Western Sydney some weeks ago, it could present a serious challenge to contract tracers.

Professor Catherine Bennett, the chair of epidemiology at Deakin University. Credit:Jason South

“We haven’t seen a case in NSW from that same strain for weeks”, said Dr Bennett. “If this turned out to be linked back to the same earlier local outbreaks in Western Sydney there would be many missing cases in between.

“This is because the average incubation period of the COVID virus is five days. If the current strain is the same as the one that has been circulating at low levels in Sydney over recent months, then it must have been silently moving through the community for some weeks and has potentially been passed among several hosts over that period.

“Mapping the edges of the current cluster and figuring out how this strain came to be in the community will be the key to understanding and controlling the community transmission.

“The next 24 or 48 hours are key. In that sense, if the outbreak is derived from a strain imported from a country like the United States only recently brought into Australia, for the purposes of contract tracing it could actually be a good thing because the tracers will only have to go back two weeks instead of further.

“Even if they don’t know who was the index case, they can get everyone potentially exposed to on that day at the RSL to test. It does give them some clues they can target the public health response the suburbs and particular people at most risk.”

Masks to be handed out to commuters on Friday

Residents in the northern beaches have been told to stay at home for three days. People from outside the area also have been asked to avoid any travel into or out of the northern beaches for at least three days. However, it appears train, bus and ferry services will operate to usual schedules on Friday.

Masks will be handed out at Wynyard train station, B-Line bus stops, which connect Wynyard and Mona Vale, and Circular Quay ferry wharves on Friday, a NSW government spokesman said.

Masks will be handed out at Circular Quay ferry wharves.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Victoria asks travellers from NSW to isolate

By David Estcourt

The Victorian Health Department is urging anyone who has been in the northern beaches area of Sydney since 11 December to stay at home and get tested on Friday.

The department also said they should stay at home until results are available and especially avoid visiting aged care facilities and hospitals.

They said further guidance will be issued as information becomes available.

Victoria’s move follows a similar decision by the Western Australia government several hours ago.

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Passengers heading to Perth receive a rude shock

Travellers midway in their journey from NSW to Western Australia have been told they must immediately self-quarantine.

Passengers on a flight from Sydney to Perth were told by the pilot that they must quarantine for one day and get tested.

“Unfortunately while your aircraft has been in the air there have been some changes to our legislation here in WA in relation to quarantining,” the pilot said.

“The good news is it’s not 14 days, it’s a one day quarantine period. In that period you must be COVID tested and you can do it at the airport on the way through.”

Travellers from NSW who arrived in WA after December 11 have also received “urgent alerts” from WA Police saying they must also immediately self-isolate and get tested.

“You must immediately self-quarantine in suitable premises and are required to present to a COVID-19 clinic for testing within 24 hours,” the message said.

“You must isolate until WA Health notifies you of your negative test result.”

Education department staff forced to isolate

By Mary Ward

Staff at the NSW Department of Education’s Eveleigh office were told to self-isolate on Thursday after a colleague tested positive for coronavirus.

An email, seen by the Herald and Age, was sent to staff after 6pm on Thursday, informing them that they would be required to self-isolate until NSW Health provided further advice to the Department.

The Eveleigh office houses the Department’s information technology teams.

“We directed all staff from the office affected to immediately work remotely from home while we complete the contact tracing process and have the office thoroughly cleaned,“ a NSW Department of Education spokesperson said.

“Staff have been told to self-isolate at home until they receive further advice. Any staff identified as a close contact will be contacted directly.

“NSW public school students finished for the year yesterday.”

French President Emmanuel Macron contracts COVID-19

French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19.

A statement issued by the presidential palace on Thursday morning Paris-time said the 42-year-old had been infected but did not provide any further details.

French President Emmanuel Macron has COVID-19.Credit:AP

He joins British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro as world leaders to test positive.

France is battling a major second wave of the disease which has exceeded the first in severity. The country’s official death toll stands at nearly 60,000.

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2020-12-17 11:31:00Z
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