NSW coronavirus update: 14 straight days of zero cases

NSW has marked a complete ‘quarantine’ period of zero-local cases after no community transmission was detected for the 14th day in a row.

NSW has marked a full ‘quarantine’ period of zero locally-acquired cases.

Saturday marked the 14th consecutive day of zero local cases, said Dr Jan Fizzell of NSW Health, however ten cases were diagnosed in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.

The incubation period for COVID-19 is generally 14 days, with most people who are infected developing symptoms within a fortnight of infection.

Dr Fizzell said while the numbers were promising, anyone with symptoms should still get tested at one of the 300 clinics around the state.

Authorities also urged travellers from South Australia to complete a declaration form to check if they have visited areas or venues of concern.

This also applies to people arriving in NSW who have been in SA in the past 14 day.

NSW Health said 16,329 tests were reported in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

State-run borders a ‘huge failing’

There are renewed calls for the states’ border rules to be controlled by a national body as there is “no consistency” between the states.

A cluster of coronavirus cases in South Australia saw several states slam their borders shut to the state while NSW asks for residents to reconsider non-essential travel to Adelaide.

Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have all imposed quarantine rules on South Australian travellers while Queensland’s two-week quarantine only applies to Adelaide residents.

NSW is still waiting for a decision on if the QLD border will reopen. Picture: Simon Dallinger

New South Wales recorded 13 straight days without a locally transmitted case of COVID-19 on Friday. There were just three new cases in hotel quarantine.

One Nation NSW MP Mark Latham said it has been one of the “huge failings” of the federal government that there is not yet a national approach to the coronavirus.

“Shouldn't there be rules all the states adopt out of the national cabinet that if there is a certain outbreak and it has got certain contagion elements to it, then logically, policies are adopted about border closures that are nationally consistent?” he said on Sunrise.

Mark Latham.

“All of this is so arbitrary and random. Right around the country, Queensland, Victoria, I think people just want consistency, particularly in the business sector to know where this is all headed.

“You can follow the rules and have a sense of certainty to our borders. I think it is one of the huge failings of the national cabinet that has been sitting for, well, nine months and they haven‘t come up with a national approach.”

The debate continues as restrictions were eased in NSW and health authorities urged communities on the state’s south coast to get tested after fragments of the virus were found in sewage.

“The positive sewage result can be due to shedding of the virus by someone who may have previously had the illness, with the virus ‘shedding’ through their system for up to six to eight weeks later,” a NSW Health statement said.

“While this positive result may be explained by a previous case who is no longer infectious, as a precaution, NSW Health is calling on people in the Batemans Bay area to get tested if they have even the mildest COVID-19 symptoms.”

From Monday, 500 people will be allowed at outdoor religious services and 30 people can participate in a choir. Up to 3,000 people will be allowed to attend the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said rules will be relaxed so people can arrange their holiday plans.

“This can only work if all of us stick together and do the right thing,” she said.

Originally published as NSW coronavirus update: 14 straight days of zero cases