Contact tracing and risk assessments are under way after a man who attended an emergency department in western Sydney with respiratory symptoms tested positive to coronavirus.
Mount Druitt Hospital emergency department reopened on Monday morning following deep cleaning after the man in his 40s went to the hospital on Saturday, coming into contact with staff and patients.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian provides a COVID 19 update on Monday.Credit:Louie Douvis
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the infection was still under investigation and contact tracers were searching for a link to a known cluster.
NSW reported three local coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday, all linked to the Berala cluster in western Sydney.
The man who attended Mount Druitt Hospital and his partner, a woman in her 40s who has since tested positive, will be included in Tuesday's figures.
The man was isolated in an area reserved for suspected COVID-19 cases and returned a positive test on Sunday before being transferred to Westmead Hospital.
Mount Druitt Hospital closed its emergency department on Monday morning after a later confirmed coronavirus case attended.Credit:Nine
Ambulances were diverted from Mount Druitt's emergency department on Sunday night but NSW Health said by Monday afternoon the hospital had returned to normal operations.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said authorities were working through risk assessments of the event to understand whether there had been inadvertent exposure that would require those present to isolate and get tested.
"[The man] did spend some time in the emergency department whilst awaiting the test," Dr Chant said, stressing NSW Health was taking a "very precautionary role", influenced by risk factors for those attending an emergency department. It is not known if the man was wearing a mask, but the general approach in hospitals was that patients were asked to wear masks, she added.
Genomic sequencing and serology would be used to piece together when and where the man may have acquired the infection. "It may be he's been unwell for a while," Dr Chant said.
The new Berala cluster cases were a man and a woman in their 30s and a child.
They were close contacts of a man and woman in their 30s reported as positive cases on Sunday who were identified after an existing case remembered holding a small gathering at her home on December 27, which they had not previously listed in contact tracing interviews.
Today's three reported cases interacted with yesterday's cases at another household gathering on December 29.
Dr Chant said NSW Health was investigating the series of events for possible subsequent infection events but was confident they had worked through the chain of transmission.
People refusing masks, QR codes should face 'full weight of law': Hazzard
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was "appalling" to see a man captured on video being aggressive towards staff at a McDonald's restaurant in north-west Sydney after being asked to use a QR code.
A NSW Police statement said police were called to the fast-food outlet on Windsor Road, Kellyville Ridge, about 8pm on Saturday following reports a man had become aggressive with staff.
The man, believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, was asked by staff to leave after he refused to wear a mask. He then pushed over a cash register before leaving, police were told.
"Anybody who thinks it's OK to not do a QR code, but more importantly to attack staff members who are trying to enforce it, really need to have the full weight of the law thrown at them and I would hope they have," Mr Hazzard said.
Calls for higher testing rates
Dr Chant called on the state’s general practitioners to encourage people to get tested after 18,570 tests were conducted in the most recent period, and 23,763 the previous day – both figures lower than NSW’s aim of 25,000 to 30,000.
“General practitioners are important often as pillars of the community, but also in the day-to-day practice. So, please, encourage all your patients to get tested if they're ringing up for advice, please ensure that they're advised to go and get tested with the most minimal of symptoms,” she said.
Dr Chant said this was particularly important in south-west and western Sydney, as a number of new exposure sites in those areas and Sydney’s inner west were publicised last night.
As Queensland entered the final hours of Brisbane's three-day lockdown on Monday morning, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced there had been another day without a locally acquired case.
More than 2.3 million south-east Queensland residents were locked down on Friday after a cleaner who worked in one of Brisbane’s hotel quarantine facilities was diagnosed with the particularly infectious B117 coronavirus strain. However, none of the woman's contacts have yet tested positive.
While Brisbane's lockdown will lift at 6pm AEST, masks will remain mandatory in the city and its surrounds for at least another 10 days, along with restrictions on gatherings.
There were no new local cases reported in Victoria on Monday, for the fifth consecutive day. The state recorded one new case in hotel quarantine.
With a decision on the reopening of the Victorian border to NSW expected in coming days, Ms Berejiklian continued to urge other state premiers to not make hasty decisions.
In a veiled swipe at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday, Ms Berejiklian said states needed to "talk to us" before closing a border "because we can explain to you the situation that's going on".
Victoria disputed Ms Berejiklian's suggestions that it did not inform NSW before the decision was made, and said NSW health authorities and ministers had been kept up to date.
On Monday, the NSW Premier said state leaders needed to "do better" with maintaining a consistent approach to borders.
"Can I make this generic comment: sometimes they let me know, sometimes they don't – but when they do the decision has already been made."
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Natassia is the education reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
Mary Ward is a health reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2021-01-11 02:09:00Z
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