More Sydney venues on alert as Premier braces for spread after positive case

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was bracing for more community cases of COVID-19 after a man tested positive after visiting a number of venues in Sydney’s east and north while potentially highly infectious.

On Wednesday night, NSW Health revealed fragments of the virus had been detected in an inner west sewerage network and asked tens of thousands of people to monitor for symptoms.

The man, who has no known links to the virus or hotel quarantine, returned a positive result on Wednesday morning.

Aged in his 50s, the man had not recently returned from overseas, did not work in quarantine and had no contacts with the hospital system, prompting urgent genomic testing to determine any genetic links to cases in the quarantine system or in other states.

NSW Health issued new venues of concern related to the new case, including some in Sydney’s north, on Wednesday night as investigations continued. Locations include a Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse in Double Bay and The Royal Sydney Golf Club in Rose Bay.

NSW Health also said traces of the virus have been found in the Marrickville sewage network that covers a number of inner west suburbs.

The catchment includes about 42,000 people and takes sewage from the suburbs of Dulwich Hill, Marrickville, Summer Hill, Lewisham, Ashfield, Haberfield, Petersham, Lilyfield and Leichhardt.

Anyone in those suburbs should carefully monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if any appear, a NSW Health statement said.

Ms Berejiklian said the mysterious origins of the man’s infection meant she expected other cases would be detected.

“If there is one case, and we don’t have an immediate source, or there’s no direct connection that we can establish, we have to assume there are other cases,” she said.

“Our response would be proportionate to the number of cases that are established, the geographical location of the cases and whether or not they are in isolation,” Ms Berejiklian said.

The man visited several venues while infectious, including Event Cinemas in Bondi Junction and Figo Restaurant at Rushcutters Bay last Friday. His close contacts are self-isolating.

Ms Berejiklian thanked the man for checking in to venues, presenting for testing and doing “everything right”, but said it highlighted the persistent threat of the pandemic.

“We have to maintain our social distancing. We have to make sure we have good hand hygiene. We need to get tested with the mildest of symptoms, and very, very importantly and significantly, we need to use the QR codes,” she said.

“The strong message is: QR codes work. We need them to keep us safe. And this is a good wake-up call, we can never be complacent.”

Westfield Bondi Junction, Barbeques Galore in Annandale, BP Mascot and Barbetta restaurant in Paddington are some of the locations the man visited.Credit: Google Maps

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said genome sequencing would be a crucial avenue of investigation to determine how the man caught the virus.

She said there was cause for concern because the man had a high viral load, suggesting he was potentially highly infectious.

“The next ring of testing around this case will actually tell us whether he’s passed it on,” she said.

Anyone who attended one of the listed venues at the times specified is asked to immediately get tested and isolate until NSW Health provides further information.

NSW Health said this applied to everyone, including those who may have been partially or fully vaccinated.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard urged people in eastern Sydney, including those who had received one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, to come forward for testing if they develop symptoms.

The Victorian government said it is monitoring the situation closely and has asked residents who attended any of the NSW exposure sites to contact authorities, isolate, get tested and quarantine for 14 days.

Victoria’s Health Department has requested flight manifests and will step up spot checks on flights from Sydney. It is also messaging people who entered the state after April 30.

One of the man’s two immediate family members has returned a negative result, and the results are pending for his other family members.

Health authorities will be testing the man’s close contacts in an effort to identify undetected chains of transmission.

“In this case, we’re really interested in how this person acquired the infection to understand the broader risk in the community,” Dr Chant said.

A new pop-up clinic has been established at Albion Street Centre Laverty Pathology in Surry Hills and will be open from 8am to 8pm from Monday to Friday, with weekend hours of operation to be advised.

Existing clinics are also offering extended hours at Prince of Wales Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, Bondi Beach Drive-Through, Bondi Junction Laverty Pathology and Rose Bay Laverty Pathology.

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