Coronavirus NSW: 18 new local COVID cases
There are fresh fears for new coronavirus cases in the Blue Mountains and Shellharbour this afternoon.
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There is rising alarm for new coronavirus cases that have emerged in the Blue Mountains and Shellharbour this afternoon, after the Premier and chief health officer this morning warned people across Greater Sydney to be on “high alert”.
The region south of Wollongong has so far remained exempt from the government’s tightening COVID-19 restrictions but that may soon change with a shopping centre in Shellharbour being added to the list of places visited by a positive case.
Stockland Shellharbour has been added to the latest public health alert with Myer and the Coffee Club cafe the source of concern.
People who have visited are considered casual contacts who should get tested and isolate until getting a negative result.
It comes as an employee at a pharmacy in the Blue Mountains has tested positive to COVID-19, according to the business management.
The staff member worked at Greenwell and Thomas Pharmacy in Katoomba over the weekend, with the store temporarily closing to undertake a deep clean.
“Anyone that came into the pharmacy on Saturday 26 December and Sunday 27 December are considered causal contacts and the Department of Health has requested they be tested for COVID-19 and to isolate until they get a negative result,” a statement from the store said.
“The Department of Health has advised us on the appropriate steps and the pharmacy has been deep cleaned.”
The Santa Claus Photo Booth at Westfield Burwood, Bunnings Greenacre and Punchbowl Officeworks have also been added to the new alerts released this afternoon.
Locations at Rhodes Waterside, Bankstown Sports Club, Westfield Liverpool, Bass Hill Plaza and Centro Bankstown Square have also been added to the alerts list.
See the update listed of venues, dates and times here.
State records 18 new locally acquired cases
NSW has recorded 18 new locally acquired coronavirus cases in the past day, prompting the Premier to tighten indoor gathering rules for New Year’s Eve.
Nine of the new cases are linked to the Avalon cluster and were already in isolation, three are under investigation and six cases are members of the same extended family which health experts are now dubbing the Croydon cluster. This new cluster, which includes family members from three households, has no known links to existing cases at this stage.
Gladys Berejiklian said that she is particularly concerned about the new cluster.
“The Croydon cluster is of concern because there are no direct links at this stage,” she said.
“The health experts are working overtime with all extended family members who are involved.”
Three households linked to Croydon cluster
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the family at the centre of the Croydon cluster had up to 34 contacts over a number of days.
Dr Chant said authorities aren’t ruling out the cluster was a result of Christmas gatherings.
“There were about 34 close contacts identified, but not on the one day,” she said.
“But we have no indication there’s any issues about not complying with the requirements.
“I’m expecting that there will be (more cases) because of the nature of the contact, and the fact that we have identified that there were infectious people at a number of these events and some events went for over an hour.”
Of the new cases in the Croydon cluster, six are all part of the same extended family – three adults and three children.
“We are expecting that there will be additional cases linked to that cluster just because of the number of close contacts the close contact had over the period of Christmas.”
Dr Chant also revealed that all members of the family do not live in the same household.
“They’re across three households,” she said.
“Across the broader Greater Sydney, some in southwestern Sydney, some in the inner west area, and some in other parts of the city.”
Fourth case detected on Central Coast
Another case of COVID-19 has been identified on the Central Coast, bringing the regions total to four.
“As this person had been identified as a close contact of a case linked to the Avalon cluster, they were already isolating at home before becoming infectious,” a spokesperson for Central Coast Health said.
“There is therefore no risk to the community and no venues of concern to alert people to.”
Restrictions tightened for New Year’s Eve
In light of the rise in cases, the Premier has tightened indoor gathering rules.
No more than five people will be able to gather indoors from today across all Greater Sydney, Wollongong, Nepean, Central Coast and Blue Mountains.
“And I stress that’s not just for New Year’s Eve but until further notice,” Ms Berejiklian said.
She added that the southern zone of the Northern Beaches will be provided with an update on further restrictions on January 2.
“So come 2 January, we’ll be able to give the southern part of the Northern Beaches, greater advice and confirmation about how they’ll be provided advice moving forward.”
The number of people allowed to gather outdoors in Greater Sydney has been further reduced down from 50 to 30.
“We don’t want New Year’s Eve to be the cause of a super-spreader, had circumstances been different we may have acted differently,” Ms Berejiklian said,
“As we said previously, it is safer to be outdoors whether it’s a picnic, a barbecue, but please maintain your social distancing and please make sure that you at all times appreciate that there could be cases of the virus that we haven’t captured.”
Riot squads to monitor CBD on New Year’s Eve
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing said his officers would be ready for anything on December 31.
“I am asking people to use common sense, understand the current health orders, do not come into the city unless you have to and restrict your movement,” Mr Willing said.
“We know by now what is COVID-safe and what is not.
“There will still be significant numbers of officers deployed who will be focused on keeping everyone safe, whether celebrating at an event in the CBD, suburban Sydney or regional NSW.”
Mr Willing said commercial boat owners hosting events on the harbour would need to comply with the one person per 4 sqm rule.
However, Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged families and friends to avoid boating on New Year’s Eve.
“If you don’t have to do a certain activity, including boating, don’t do it,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Obviously, it’s a time when people want to be with their closest loved ones and we ask everybody to be responsible but we also ask everybody not to undertake any non-essential activity.”
“The Marine Area Command will enforce marine laws including the health orders as well,” assistant commissioner Willing warned.
“Before heading out on the water, please check the vessel is in good working order and ensure all required safety equipment is on board.”
Legally, 50 people are allowed to gather outside under current restrictions in the greater Sydney area.
In the upper end of the northern beaches five people are allowed together in a public place and 10 people in the southern end.
And Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has given a stern warning to any more backpackers thinking of flouting social distancing laws on New Year’s Eve in a possible repeat of Bronte’s Christmas Day party.
“Visitors to this country should be aware that disobeying public health orders during the pandemic jeopardises the health and safety of others, and may threaten their visa status and end their stay in Australia,” he said.
“I have instructed the Department of Home Affairs to work closely with NSW authorities, to immediately bring to my attention any cases where temporary visa holders disobey public health orders.”
Bride and family hit with fines on wedding day
A bride and her family have been slammed for putting the whole state at risk by leaving the northern beaches to attend her weekend wedding in the city.
Diana Falasca, 28, was fined $1000 for leaving her Beacon Hill home to marry Mark Bonifacio at Doltone House in Pyrmont on Sunday afternoon.
The groom was not in breach of any health regulations and did not get fined, police said.
Nine more Northern Beaches residents have now been fined, police said this morning.
Alarm bells ring in New Year
Rising alarm that more than 40 COVID cases have sprung up in suburbs outside the northern beaches this month including Sydney, the Central Coast and Wollongong has prompted the Premier and chief health officer to warn people to be on “high alert”.
NSW Health data shows that nearly a third of the state’s 139 cases detected between December 16 and December 28 are from Sydney suburbs outside the northern beaches local government area (LGA).
Find out how many cases have been detected in your suburb here.
RSL band in COVID cluster speaks out
THE band that played the Avalon RSL on the day it became a coronavirus hot spot has hit back at the NSW Health Minister for naming and, they believe, shaming them.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard singled out a member of the band as having contracted COVID-19 while performing at the Avalon RSL six days earlier when announcing the cluster at a media conference on December 17.
“The band is called Nothing Too Serious,” Mr Hazzard said. “Certainly from our point of view, I wouldn’t say it’s exactly how we feel, because it obviously is serious.”
He said the band member, from Frenchs Forest, had “travelled extensively”, including to Penrith RSL.
Even though chief health officer Kerry Chant explicitly said the source of the infections was an “unknown person”, not the band member, Nothing Too Serious has been erroneously attacked on social media for supposedly being to blame.
In a post on its Facebook page on Tuesday, the band said it had asked the Health Minister to “set the record straight” over his “statements not specifically blaming but promoting the perception and implication on national media we were the cause of the outbreak”.
“The entire band went to Avalon RSL 100 per cent healthy,” the post said. “No Symptoms and totally unaware of any COVID outbreak. We encouraged people not to dance together and to follow rules as did the club.
“After the gig on the 11th Dec, Nothing Too Serious did not play across Sydney and as a band have not played since — suggestions NTS did are incorrect.”
A spokeswoman for Mr Hazzard said “the Minister made comments as considered necessary by health authorities regarding the Avalon cluster which now numbers more than 120 positive cases.
“The overriding imperative was to track anybody who attended the band’s concert as it was a pivotal event at which most people became positive to COVID,” she said.
‘I won’t rely on a vaccine’: Premier
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she is not depending on a vaccine to fix the coronavirus pandemic, believing there are “question marks” hanging over its efficacy and rollout date.
While a vaccine is expected to be available in Australia in March, the Premier said she would act as if none will be provided.
“I appreciate various health experts around the nation and overseas providing optimistic health assessments and realistic assessments about when the vaccine will be made available in Australia,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“But I want to make it clear in NSW, as the Premier and (on behalf) of the government, we are acting as though there’s no vaccine available.”
She said the state’s residents had to change the way they live, rather than hope for a cure.
“We have to think about how to live in a COVID-safe way, because even when there’s a vaccine available, having eventually rolled out to everybody … some vaccines are better than others in terms of stopping you actually getting the virus, but you still might be giving the virus to others,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“There are still a lot of questions around the vaccine. Our responsibility and my responsibility as the leader of NSW is to provide support to our citizens to live in a COVID-safe way until the pandemic is over, one way or another.”
WHO’s chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said it was too early to tell whether vaccinated people could enter Australia without spreading disease. Ms Berejiklian said she still expected everyone who arrived from overseas to quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.
“Until such time that everybody is vaccinated, or the vast majority, and we know that it is effective in preventing transmission … we will maintain that,” she said.
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