Eight communities in western NSW have been plunged into lockdown after a COVID-19 alert for a remote town in the region with a large Indigenous population.
Key points:
- Just hours after the Dubbo Regional Council went into lockdown, a case has been linked to Dubbo and Bathurst
- The ABC understands the exposure comes after a man tested positive after being released on bail from the Bathurst jail on Monday
- He is also believed to have visited Dubbo while infectious
It is the fourth case of the virus identified by Western NSW Local Health District in this outbreak.
From 7:00pm the Walgett Shire LGA will be under stay-at-home orders for a week, as well as Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Narromine, and Warren.
Health authorities say a man who returned a positive COVID test is from Walgett, 230 kilometres east of Bourke, and was in Dubbo and Bathurst during his infectious period.
"I'm incredibly concerned about a positive case or cases in our communities, we don't have the comprehensive health services to cope with a breakout," Barwon MP Roy Butler said.
"I know some people won't be happy about it, but I would be less happy to see our health services overwhelmed.
"The message is stay home unless you absolutely need to for one of the essential reasons listed."
Three new cases
The alert comes hours after Dubbo Regional Council area plunged into lockdown when two people there tested positive to the virus.
According to the 2016 Census, over 40 per cent of the town and, more broadly, almost 30 per cent of the 6,100 people in the local government area identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, a population vulnerable to the virus due to the prevalence of underlying health conditions.
ABC Central West: Mollie Gorman
)The ABC understands the Walgett case is a 27-year-old man whose positive test also forced the Bathurst Correctional Centre into precautionary lockdown this afternoon.
He was tested on Saturday while in custody at the prison in a routine screening procedure for new inmates. He was released on bail on Monday.
He was confirmed as a COVID-positive case this afternoon.
Corrective Services NSW said a number of inmates who may have come into contact with the man are in isolation.
The department is now tracing any staff who may have also been exposed.
A vulnerable community
Walgett Shire Mayor Ian Woodcock said the community is vulnerable.
"This is a young person that's been away and now they're trying to ascertain how he made his way home and what route he took to get here," he said.
"We're very, very vulnerable, there's a hell of a lot of tourists who come up here and people live in pretty close contact in Walgett.
"The Health Department will do all they can to make sure we stay clean in the way we have been. Let's just hope it works out that way."
Concern about travellers
Western NSW will move to learning from home for all schools in affected LGAs for the period of the lockdown.
Parents are being encouraged to keep their children at home if they can, but schools will remain open for any child who needs to be attend and "no student will be turned away".
Cr Woodcock said he had real concerns about people leaving lockdown for the regions, saying caravaners have constantly travelled through the Walgett Shire since the pandemic began.
"So they just took off and came to the bush."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTA4LTExL2NvdmlkLWNhc2Utd2FsZ2V0dC1kdWJiby1iYXRodXJzdC1qYWlsLWxvY2tkb3duLzEwMDM2OTI1ONIBKGh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMDAzNjkyNTg?oc=5
2021-08-11 07:19:25Z
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