NSW coronavirus: Sydney girls’ school cluster grows to 21
NSW reported nine COVID-19 cases on Friday but new infections continued to emerge with no known source. It comes as a Rouse Hill church issued an alert after a parishioner tested positive and a Sydney yacht club confirmed a second member had the virus.
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The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia will remain closed for at least another week and all racing cancelled this weekend after another member tested positive to COVID-19.
The Rushcutters Bay club notified members in an email on Friday that it would stay closed until at least August 21 with the clubhouse to undergo another cleaning.
On Thursday, it was learned a member had been diagnosed with COVID-19 but had not been at the clubhouse. However, her partner had sailed twice (Sunday and Wednesday) and attended a committee meeting on Tuesday night.
On Friday another email informed members a second member has tested positive and the club sought guidance from NSW Health.
“We are also advised that those persons who have been in close contact with the member have been contacted by NSW Health and asked to test and self-isolate – to date those persons who were tested yesterday have returned a negative test,” it said in a statement.
“The Club will then remain closed for 7 days and a decision made next week on its reopening from Friday 21 August”
MYSTERY CASES CONTINUE IN NSW
COVID-19 cases with no direct link continue to emerge in NSW, with concern of silent community transmission continuing in the city’s southwest and western suburbs.
Nine new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm last night including a student from St Vincent’s College at Potts Point, forcing the prestigious private school to close for deep cleaning on Friday.
In a letter to parents seen by The Daily Telegraph, Principal Anne Fry said all students and staff must self isolate while health authorities conducted contact tracing.
It isn’t yet clear if the student is linked to a known cluster.
The outbreak linked to Tangara School for Girls also grew to 21 overnight.
A new case was also reported in an employee from the Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club and in a staff member from Liverpool Hospital. Both are yet to be linked to a known cluster.
Of the remaining cases, one case was a contact of a known infection, three were returned travellers and one was locally acquired with no source identified.
ROUSE HILL CHURCH ISSUES ALERT
Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Rouse Hill has announced on Facebook a parishioner has tested positive for COVID-19.
The parishioner attended 9am Mass on August 8.
“NSW Health has investigated and determined those who also attended that particular Mass were casual contacts,” Fr Carlos Walker wrote on Facebook last night.
“This is due to the relatively short duration of the Mass and the COVID-19 safe precautions taken by the parish such as no singing, social distancing and hand sanitising.”
Everybody who attended the Mass will be contacted by the parish and advised to monitor symptoms until August 22.
SAFETY BREACH CLAIMS AT TANGARA
NSW Police have finished their investigation into the Tangara School for Girls in Sydney’s north west, finding no breaches of the public health act.
Police were investigating the school after allegations from parents that the school was flouting COVID-19 protocols. The outbreak at the school has reached 21 cases.
“The NSW Police force has finalised its investigation and determined no breaches of the Public Health Act or public health orders have taken place,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.
It comes after complaints by parents of breaches of COVID-19 protocols around food stalls, choir practices, mass and communion at the school before positive cases were detected.
While the Education Department has guidelines involving choirs, camps and other extra-curricular activities, health orders concerning schools are vague.
Police attended on Thursday to ensure the high school was closed after the outbreak.
The Tangara School for Girls is linked to the latest Sydney COVID outbreak. Health authorities investigated whether the virus was spread from an out-of-school retreat.
Eremeran Hills Study Centre, part of the same Opus Dei community as Tangara, held a retreat attended by five high school girls who later tested positive to coronavirus.
CASES IN SYDNEY’S WEST AND SOUTHWEST
NSW Health have confirmed a third case among staff at Liverpool Hospital, with all close contacts directed to isolate for 14 days and get tested.
The original case at the hospital is linked to an existing cluster.
NSW Health has said there is no ongoing risk at the hospital, but anyone who attended on August 6 from 7am to 3pm, August 7 from 7am to 3pm, and August 8 and 9 between 5am and 1.30pm should monitor for symptoms.
A second case has also been confirmed at Dooley’s Lidcombe Catholic Club, with another staff member testing positive on Thursday and both are yet to be linked to known clusters.
Anyone who attended the club at the following times, when the two people worked shifts, must isolate for 14 days: 5pm August 7-6.30am August 8; 4.40pm to 11pm August 8; 1pm-9pm August 9, and 12pm-9.30pm August 10.
AUSTRALIA RECORDS YOUNGEST DEATH
Australia recorded its youngest coronavirus death on Friday.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the tragic news that a man in his 20s was among 14 deaths announced on Friday.
A 30-year-old Queensland man was reported to be the previous youngest person in the country to die from the wildly infectious disease in June.
It takes the state’s death toll to 289.
Three more women and two men in their 80s and four men and four women in their 90s also sadly passed away. Twelve of the 14 deaths were linked to aged-care.
It comes after Victoria’s daily coronavirus infections rose again with 372 new cases recorded overnight, taking the state’s total to more than 16,100.
7 ELEVEN ASK CUSTOMERS TO LOWER MASKS
Convenience store chain 7 Eleven has copped backlash on social media after asking customers to lower their masks before entering some stores in NSW and Victoria.
Twitter user Jonathan Brown posted that he had seen a notice in a Bexley 7 Eleven asking customers to lower their masks so they could be captured by CCTV.
“Love 7-Eleven putting notices on their stores telling people to unnecessarily touch their face masks for their facial recognition cameras,” Mr Brown said.
“I guess creepy corporate customer monitoring is more important than public health,” he tweeted.
Under the new policy the stores ask customers to wait before entering the store, lower their masks for the camera, then put it back on as they enter the store.
A spokesman for 7-Eleven Australia said the policy is to keep store attendants safe, and applies to stores in Victoria as well as petrol station in NSW.
“With the stage four restriction which mean there’s a curfew in Victoria … what we do between 11pm and 5am normally is we have a locked door policy to prevent theft and robbery,” the spokesman said.
“If someone turns up at the door with a hoodie we ask them to take it off. The timing of our locked door policy is now 8pm to 5am all we ask is people lower their face masks for a moment before they enter,” he said.
The spokesman referred The Daily Telegraph to Victoria Health guidelines which say banks and other services can ask patrons to remove face masks to check their identity.