Covid-19 positive sewage detection in Coffs Harbour

Service centre listed by NSW Health as positive results returned from Coffs Harbour sewerage treatment plant.

The Halfway Creek Service Centre has been listed as a venue of concern following investigations into Lismore’s Covid case.

The time of exposure is listed on Sunday September 12 from 4pm-5pm.

Health authorities have stated anyone who attended the venues at the times listed was a casual contact and must get tested and isolate until they received a negative result.

The result comes after Covid-19 fragments were detected in sewage samples taken from Coffs Harbour treatment plant.

The result came from testing on September 13, and is the first positive detection since early August.

The find was first announced by NSW Deputy chief health officer Marianne Gale at a NSW Health press conference in Sydney on Thursday morning.

COVID-19 update 16 September

Posted by NSW Health on Wednesday, September 15, 2021

It comes as the Lismore local government area is being locked down for seven days after a positive case was detected in the area on Wednesday.

The Mid North Coast Local Health District said there are no new Covid-19 cases anywhere in the district.

A spokeswoman for the health district said they strongly encouraged people in the Coffs Harbour area to remain vigilant and get tested if symptoms appear.

The carpark at C.ex Stadium filled with vehicles queuing at the drive-through Covid testing clinic in Coffs Harbour. NSW Health established the testing site after a surge in demand after a man who travelled to Coffs Harbour had later tested positive to Covid-19. Photo: Tim Jarrett

Symptoms of COVID-19 can include a runny nose, scratchy or sore throat, cough, fever, shortness of breath, headache, tiredness, loss of taste or smell, nausea, diarrhoea or muscle aches.

“Testing sewage can help provide early warning of undetected infections in an area,” she said.

A scientist from Sydney Water tests a sewage sample for Covid-19. Traces of the virus have been found in Coffs Harbour’s treatment plant samples.

“This is of particular concern in Coffs Harbour where there are no known cases of COVID-19.”

Detection of virus fragments in sewage can also be due to shedding of the virus by someone who may have previously had the illness and may no longer be infectious.

It can also be the result of a person with COVID-19 who may have visited the community and has since left the area.

A full list of COVID-19 testing clinic locations and opening hours are listed on the NSW Government website at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/health-and-wellbeing/clinics