Northern beaches cluster reaches 28 cases - Sydney Morning Herald

The coronavirus cluster on the northern beaches grew to 28 cases on Friday, as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the source of the new infections was from overseas.

The Premier said a message of high alert should be placed across Sydney, not just on the northern beaches, advising people to wear masks in places such as public transport and places of worship.

“If we get on top of this in the next two or three days, all of us will be able to have a much better Christmas but if we don’t get on top of it in the next few days, it could mean further restrictions down the track,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Residents of the northern beaches have been advised to work from home and limit their movements for a three-day period from Thursday evening, as contact tracers raced to determined the spread of the outbreak.

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“A couple of people at those venues [locations identified as places where positive cases visited] weren’t from the northern beaches, they’ve gone back to their home ... back to their other suburbs,” Ms Berejiklian said.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says no further cases have been linked to a bus driver who tested positive earlier this week.

Newport beach on Friday morning, as the northern beaches coronavirus cluster grows.Credit:Nick Moir

“The genome sequencing has determined the strain that gentleman acquired was most likely a US strain,” she said. This confirmed NSW Health’s hypothesis that the driver had become infected with the virus while driving air crew between the airport and their quarantine accommodation.

From Tuesday, international airline crew arriving in NSW will be placed in two designated quarantine hotels, rather than spread across “25 or 26” locations.

Ms Berejiklian said the quarantine of airline crew would be managed by NSW Police and NSW Health.

NSW case went north

Dr Chant broke down the cases linked to the northern beaches cluster, including one which was diagnosed in Queensland.

Eight people in the cluster attended Avalon Beach RSL on December 11 and 16 attended the Avalon Bowlo on December 13. There were two people who attended both of these venues on these dates.

Dr Chant said people who were at the venues on these dates should have been contacted by NSW Health, and it was essential they came forward for testing and self-isolated.

A person who had attended Avalon Beach RSL on December 11 was in Queensland when they received the call from NSW Health that they needed to be tested for coronavirus.

The person then contacted Queensland officials who advised them of safe transport methods and drove back to NSW, Dr Chant said.

She said the person had taken a flight and Queensland health authorities would be doing contact tracing in relation to the flight.

After being tested in Queensland, the person received a positive result on return to NSW.

Minister tests negative

Health Minister Brad Hazzard, a northern beaches resident who has tested negative to COVID-19, said the outbreak was “an important reminder that we need to take care” during the pandemic.

“There will always be the possibility of something creeping out from somewhere ... we just need everybody to be aware complacency just cannot continue,” he said, particularly asking young people to come forward for testing. “Young people might think they’re immortal - you’re not.”

Ms Berejiklian earlier confirmed the source of the infections was from overseas. “We are yet to work out how it got from the international source to the community, whether it was through quarantine or other sources. That’s really the challenge for our genomic experts at the moment,” Ms Berejiklian told ABC News Breakfast.

Long lines for testing

Northern beaches residents queue at the pop-up clinic in Avalon on Friday morning. Credit:Nick Moir

NSW Health is discouraging unnecessary travel to and from the area.

There were long lines at northern beaches and north shore hospitals on Friday morning as locals queued up to be tested for coronavirus.

One of the cases reported on Thursday evening was a pharmacy worker who worked at a number of Ramsay Health Care-operated hospitals on the north shore.

The person worked shifts at North Shore Private Hospital, Castlecrag Private Hospital, Hunters Hill Private Hospital, Northside Cremorne Clinic and Ramsay Pharmacy North Shore.

The sites have been deep cleaned and their close contacts are being identified. From Friday, visitors and staff at Ramsay hospitals across NSW will need to wear masks and patients will be limited to two visitors.

Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania all imposed new travel rules for people arriving from either the northern beaches or NSW at all on Thursday night.

People travelling from NSW to Western Australia from Friday will need to complete a 14-day self-quarantine period as well as being tested.

Tasmania, Victoria and the Northern Territory imposed the same requirement for people who had been in the northern beaches region. South Australia has imposed it for people who visited venues identified by NSW Health as of concern.

People who have been in the northern beaches region since December 11 and travel to Queensland will need to self-quarantine for 14 days from their departure from the area. Those arriving in Queensland after 1am on Saturday will be required to pay for hotel quarantine.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNtaC5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvbnN3L25vcnRoZXJuLWJlYWNoZXMtY2x1c3Rlci1yZWFjaGVzLTI4LWNhc2VzLTIwMjAxMjE4LXA1Nm9vNC5odG1s0gFiaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuc21oLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9uc3cvbm9ydGhlcm4tYmVhY2hlcy1jbHVzdGVyLXJlYWNoZXMtMjgtY2FzZXMtMjAyMDEyMTgtcDU2b280Lmh0bWw?oc=5

2020-12-18 00:12:00Z
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