Coronavirus NSW: Nine cases, Kincoppal and hospital outbreaks grow
A Woolloomooloo restaurant has shut after being visited by a suspected COVID-19 case. It comes after NSW recorded nine new cases overnight, including several healthcare workers as an emerging cluster linked to two Sydney hospitals continues to grow.
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Woolloomooloo institution China Doll has temporarily closed as a precaution after a suspected case of COVID-19 dined there last week.
Owner Steve Anastasiou said the venue immediately closed for deep cleaning after they were made aware of the potential case.
“We’re doing a precautionary deep clean tonight (Tuesday) because there was a suspected case and we didn’t want to wait around, we just wanted to get it cleaned straight away,” he said.
“We’re concerned about the area with what happened at Potts Point, so we’re taking precautions to ensure all our customers are safe and for the safety of our staff as well.
“We’ve actually already gotten two (deep cleans) done and this one is a new product that’s meant to last for 90 days.”
MORE HEALTH WORKERS CONTRACT COVID
Two more healthcare workers have tested positive to coronavirus as part of an emerging cluster linked to Liverpool and Concord hospitals.
The cases are among nine new cases recorded in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, including one case first revealed by health authorities yesterday.
A boarding student at Kincoppal-Rose Bay School has tested positive, with boarding students now suspended. All boarders and staff in the boarding area have been sent into self-isolation for two weeks.
Another case is a household contact of a case linked with the CBD cluster, taking the number of cases linked with the outbreak to 66.
The two additional healthcare workers who have tested positive said they had no symptoms while at work, and wore protective gear while caring for patients.
There are now seven cases linked with Concord and Liverpool hospitals including six healthcare workers. The source is still unknown.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it is “not unexpected” that a number of healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19.
“Our hospitals are among the safest places in the world to be, so I would encourage the community to still go to hospital if you need to go to hospital,” he said.
Despite “approximately 100 staff” being stood down as close contacts of confirmed cases in the Liverpool and Concord emergency departments, Mr Hazzard said the Health system has enough staff to cover their shifts.
Tuesday’s reported cases were identified in 12,494 tests.
Anyone who attended the following venues at these times is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms:
– Charles St Kitchen, 78 Charles St Putney on September 5 between 10:45am and 11:30am
– Eastwood Ryde Netball Association, Meadowbank Park, Adelaide St West Ryde on September 5 between 12:15pm and 1:30pm.
– Missing Spoon cafe, 8 Railway Ave Wahroonga on September 5 between 4:45pm and 5:30pm.
– Croydon Park Pharmacy 172 Georges River Rd Croydon Park on September 3 between 1pm and 2pm.
Anyone who attended Plus Fitness at Epping on September 5 between 9am and 10.15am is considered close contacts of a case and must get tested and isolate for 14 days.
HOTEL QUARANTINE BREACH CHARGES
A Victorian man has been charged with providing false documents to leave hotel quarantine in Sydney after he allegedly lied about having a dying grandfather in hospital.
On Friday September 4, the 30-year-old man arrived at Sydney Airport without an exemption and was taken to a hotel to isolate.
The next morning, he provided what he claimed to be a valid exemption granting his absence to visit his terminally ill grandfather in hospital.
The man was then released from the hotel; however, following inquiries, police determined the documents were fake and that the man’s grandfather was not in hospital.
He was tracked down at a Penrith residence on Monday, September 7, arrested and charged with two offences.
He was granted bail, returned to hotel quarantine and will appear in Penrith Local Court on October 12.
In a separate incident, another Victorian man was also charged for allegedly repeatedly trying to enter NSW without a valid permit.
At 1am on Monday morning, the 27-year-old man attempted to enter NSW at the Saddle Flaps Road border checkpoint at Rockton, where he was denied entry for not having a permit.
At 2.45am the same day, the man allegedly attempted to enter NSW again via the Princess Highway at Timbillica, south of Eden. He was again returned to Victoria.
Police allege the man failed to comply and began verbally abusing officers before exiting his vehicle.
When police attempted to arrest him, he allegedly assaulted a male senior constable.
The Western Australian man was arrested and taken to Eden Police Station where he was charged with not complying with a noticed direction, offensive language, assault on an officer and resisting an officer in the execution of duty.
The man was refused bail and is due to appear in Batemans Bay Local Court.
EIGHT DEATHS, 55 CASES IN VICTORIA
Victoria has recorded 55 new cases of coronavirus and eight more deaths bringing the state’s fatality toll to 683.
On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison lambasted Daniel Andrews’ road map out of stage four lockdown in Victoria, calling out the state for lacklustre contact tracing.
Mr Andrews will give an update on today’s figures later today.
LIDCOMBE PS REOPENS AFTER FALSE POSITIVE TEST
Lidcombe Public School will reopen today after NSW Health confirmed a student had returned a false positive COVID-19 test.
The student tested positive on the weekend and staff and students considered close contacts were told to self isolate.
Now the close contacts have been allowed to leave isolation and there is no risk to the school community.
A Department of Education spokesperson said the school was thoroughly cleaned.
DEPUTY PM ADMITS HE WAS WRONG ON BLM PROTESTS
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has had to admit he was wrong about claims Black Lives Matter protests were one of the main causes of a second COVID wave in Melbourne.
So far six cases have been connected to the protests, and Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said there was no evidence these cases spread.
When repeatedly pressed by ABC host Hamish McDonald on Q&A last night, Mr McCormack was forced to concede there was no evidence to back up his claims.
“I’ll accept that, but people shouldn’t be protesting,” Mr McCormack said.
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid agreed with Mr McCormack’s point that people should stay away from large protests gatherings, but said there was no evidence the Black Lives Matter protests were connected to the large Melbourne outbreak.
PM BACKS NSW CONTACT TRACING RESPONSE
Prime Minister Scott Morrison called out Victoria for lacklustre contact tracing on Monday.
In a scathing rebuke of the Labor government, Mr Morrison said it must improve the ability to trace the source of cases and track down close contacts to allow “a more confident” return to normal as he warned of the nationwide economic fallout of keeping millions of Victorians under lockdown.
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After describing Victoria’s recovery road map as “crushing”, Mr Morrison said on Monday he hoped that it represents the “worst-case scenario”.
“I hope it’s a starting point. I hope we can move more quickly than that,” he said.
He declared his government would look into the plan and provide “constructive feedback” on the plan as the ongoing lockdown in Victoria strangles the national economy.
“It’s actually going to impact on employment and on incomes, on revenues … there will be ripple effects of this announcement yesterday that will impact other parts of the country.”
Mr Morrison also publicly took aim at the cases-per-day basis of the road map and compared it to NSW which he said had the gold standard for contact tracing in Australia.
Under the road map released on Sunday, Victoria’s strict lockdown – that is keeping millions under house arrest – will only ease if the state records less than five cases per day for two weeks.
A frustrated Mr Morrison pointed out that if this matrix was applied in NSW then “Sydney would be under curfew now”.
“Sydney doesn‘t need to be under curfew now. They have a tracing capability that can deal with outbreaks,” he said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt on Monday used public comments of leading epidemiologists to declare “there has been progress” in Victoria’s contact tracing “but there’s more to go”.
WE’RE TOO RELIANT ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, UNIS SAY
University chiefs have told a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Future of Tertiary Education their world class research was at risk because of a revenue shortfall caused by the exodus of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have been excessively reliant on international student fees as a system to keep our research infrastructure going,” University of Sydney Vice Chancellor Dr Michael Spence said.
“If we have seen anything during the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of having locally done work addressed to local problems,” he said.
He said the revenue shortfall from the loss of international student enrolments could not simply be replaced with more domestic students because most universities lost money on educating Australian students.
University of NSW Vice Chancellor Dr Ian Jacobs told the inquiry the ongoing financial pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had put a number of research projects in financial jeopardy.
“The real issue facing our universities … is the risk to our outstanding high quality large scale research activity posed by the fact we are for the moment we are having a decrease in international students,” he said.
“That will compromise our ability to deliver research.”
RUBY PRINCESS PUT PROFITS BEFORE SAFETY
The operators of the ill-fated Ruby Princess put corporate profits before passenger safety after ignoring “extreme dangers” posed by coronavirus, a lawsuit alleges.
More than 900 passengers or their relatives from across Australia, Britain and the US, have joined a Federal Court class action against Bermuda-based Carnival Plc and Australian subsidiary Princess Cruise Lines Ltd.
Despite known outbreaks in two of their ships weeks before, court documents accuse company officials of ignoring “extreme dangers” to allow 2700 passengers, and 1100 crew, to board the vessel on March 8.
But after passengers disembarked into the community — rather than quarantine — when the trip was cut short on March 19, more than 700 patients then fell ill and 28 people died, including two South Australians.
The company has yet to file a defence. A spokesman declined to comment ahead of a first hearing on Wednesday.
Originally published as Coronavirus NSW: Nine cases, Kincoppal and hospital outbreaks grow
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