Coronavirus NSW: Fairfield LGA residents blocked from Queensland
The Queensland Premier has declared another Sydney area a COVID-19 hotspot and has closed the border to residents of the LGA. It comes as a Sydney Costco store closes after an infectious customer attended the warehouse. LATEST DETAILS.
NSW
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Queensland has expanded its list of coronavirus hot spots in NSW, with visitors from the Fairfield LGA to be banned from entering the Sunshine State.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Thursday afternoon that the area had been added to Queensland’s list of hot spots following advice from Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young.
The directive will take effect from 1am on Monday, July 27.
Any Queenslanders travelling from Fairfield who had been there in the previous 14 days will be directed to hotel quarantine at their own expense.
BREAKING: Queensland borders will close to another New South Wales hotspot. In response to further outbreaks – and on the advice of our Chief Health Officer – the city of Fairfield NSW has been added to Queensland’s list of COVID hotspots. #covid19aus pic.twitter.com/ZAiyUoiIme
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 23, 2020
Ms Palaszczuk said 46 coronavirus cases had been identified in Fairfield.
“The declaration adds Fairfield to declarations in effect for travellers from Campbelltown, Liverpool and Victoria,” she said.
Other people who have visited Fairfield, and are not a resident of Queensland, will be turned around at the border unless they have an exemption.
Fairfield LGA suburbs included in the ban:
Abbotsbury 2176
Bonnyrigg 2177
Bonnyrigg Heights 2177
Bossley Park 2176
Cabramatta 2166
Cabramatta Heights 2166
Cabramatta West 2166
Cabravale 2166
Canley Heights 2166
Canley Vale 2166
Carramar 2163
Cecil Park 2178
Edensor Park 2176
Fairfield 2165
Fairfield East 2165
Fairfield Heights 2165
Fairfield West 2165
Fairvale 2165
Greenfield Park 2176
Guildford 2161
Guildford North 2160
Hollywood 2166
Horsley Park 2175
Lansvale 2166
Lansvale East 2166
Mount Pritchard 2170
Old Guildford 2161
Prairiewood 2176
Smithfield 2164
Smithfield West 2164
St Johns Park 2176
Villawood 2163
Wakeley 2176
Wetherill Park 2164
Yennora 2161
COSTCO MARSDEN PARK CLOSED OVER CASE
A Costco member who visited a northwestern Sydney warehouse has tested positive to COVID-19.
An email from the bulk goods provider to members has revealed a customer who visited the Marsden Park warehouse over the weekend had returned a positive result to COVID-19.
The member is understood to have visited the store on Sunday July 19 between 11am and 2pm.
Costco has said they will increase the store’s cleaning schedule in response to the positive case and will keep members informed if more cases emerge.
FIVE MORE DEATHS, 403 CASES IN VICTORIA
Australia’s COVID-19 death toll has again climbed after Victoria confirmed five new deaths and another high increase in cases.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said 403 more people have been diagnosed with the virus. This marks the third biggest daily tally since the pandemic began.
Five more people have also tragically died from the disease, three of whom are connected to aged care facilities.
“I am very sad to have to report to you 49 people have now died after we had five additional fatalities,” Mr Andrews said.
The latest fatalities include a male in his 50s and another in his 70s and three cases connected to aged care facilities – a female in her 70s, a male in his 80s and a male in his 90s.
Victorians who have to take time off work to self-isolate after receiving a COVID-19 test will be handed $300 as part of a fresh bid to encourage people to stay home.
Mr Andrews on Thursday announced the new measures “will be available to anyone who has taken a test, needs to isolate and is in work but does not have sick leave they can fall back on.”
Residents must apply for the payment with supporting evidence such as a pay slip or a statutory declaration, with more details set to be announced soon.
The new measures come after the Victorian government confirmed the large majority of the state’s outbreaks were triggered by people failing to stay home after being swabbed for the virus.
“This ensures people are no worse off and all Victorians are better off because we know these patterns are driving many of the cases,” he said.
NSW RECORDS 19 NEW CASES, NORTH COAST CLUSTER GROWS
Nineteen new cases of coronavirus were recorded in NSW in the past day but three of those have unknown sources.
The cases include three more people linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster, and nine people connected to the Thai Rock Restaurant.
There are three cases still under investigation and three are returned travellers in hotel quarantine. A southwest Sydney resident who caught the virus in Victoria has been identified but has been self-isolating since returning to NSW.
Cases identified in the Port Stephens area, including in the one-year-old infant, have forced the Tomaree Public School and Goodstart Early Learning in Anna Bay to close for cleaning.
A drive through testing clinic will be opened at the Tomaree Sports Complex, with locals urged to get tested if they develop any symptoms.
The latest Hunter Region cases are connected to the area’s first case, a 60-year-old man who was visited by a Sydney man in his 20s
The Crossroads Hotel cluster has now grown to 56 people, and there are 46 people associated with the Thai Rock Restaurant cluster. The Batemans Bay Soldiers Club cluster remains at eight people.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned NSW residents to not be complacent.
“It was the 27th of June (that) Victoria had 41 cases, and that’s only three weeks ago,” he said.
“So I think that we do need to be on high alert.”
The new cases confirmed today were detected from 24,640 tests. NSW Health said testing was up 50 per cent increase on the previous week.
There are 94 COVID-19 cases being treated by NSW Health, with one person in intensive care and on a ventilator. Across the state, 2,799 people have recovered from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, a staff member at an Inner West aged care facility has tested positive to COVID-19 after dining at the virus-hit Thai Rock Restaurant.
The staff member at Ashfield Baptist Homes tested positive after catching the infection at the Wetherill Park restaurant.
It is understood the risk for infection is low because the positive case wore masks, gloves and gowns but staff and residents are being tested.
“The risk to other staff and residents is considered to be very low as the staff member wore masks, gloves and gowns when working with residents and did not work while symptomatic,” a statement from Sydney Local Health District said.
“Ashfield Baptist Homes is closed to all visitors pending test results.”
QUEENSLAND PREPARES TO LOCK OUT ALL OF SYDNEY
Queensland’s borders could be closed to all five million Sydney residents, with police ready to enforce stricter bans if COVID cases continue to surge.
Police manning border checkpoints are preparing for more COVID-19 hot spots to be declared in NSW, including possibly the whole of Sydney, as early as today.
Sources say the complete closure of the border is also not out of the question if the coronavirus second wave sweeping Victoria and NSW continues to gather momentum.
“There is no way that more hot spots are not going to be declared, and all of Sydney would definitely be a consideration given what’s happening down there,” a senior police source told The Courier-Mail.
“If the situation continues to deteriorate over the next week, I honestly don’t see how we wouldn’t look at closing the border entirely.”
THAI ROCK OWNERS HIT BACK
The new infections linked to Thai Rock Restaurant in Wetherill Park come as its owners claim they have been demonised.
The family-owned restaurant closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak and its owners say they have been targeted online after the owner’s brother was falsely accused of not self isolating.
And the entire Stockland Mall where the restaurant is based, plus Sydney’s Star Casino, the Canterbury Leagues Club and Villawood’s Zone Bowling all remained on NSW Health’s confirmed COVID-19 case locations website on Wednesday, well past the 14-day period deemed adequate for returning overseas travellers to be quarantined.
Thai Rock owners David and Stephanie Boyd say their entire family is being attacked on social media after one of their employees unknowingly worked a shift while infected.
The couple says Mrs Boyd’s brother Eric Lim was “vilified” by radio shock jock Ray Hadley, who said Mr Lim “should be jailed” for not isolating himself after being in contact with people from the restaurant.
After receiving similar reports of noncompliance, police repeatedly visited the Boyds and their staff at home, but officers concluded Mr Lim hadn’t been to the restaurant in recent weeks and was not required to self isolate.
“Now he is staying home because he’s frightened. People have been shouting things. Everyone is saying things on social media. (His) hardware business is suffering,” Mr Boyd said.
Mr Boyd insisted: “we’ve done nothing wrong. We care about our staff and this industry.”
“To be singled out with lies will damage my business for something we didn’t do,” he said.
“We had our COVID plan in place. We had the dots on the floor. We didn’t let anybody stand in the bar area. We closed the business before NSW Health told us to.”
It comes as Villawood’s Zone Bowling is still listed by NSW Health 25 days after its last COVID-19 exposure, while it has been at least 18 days since three other venues were visited by a customer who later tested positive.
In a statement, NSW Health said venues are listed for 21 days from last exposure “to capture all cases and possible secondary transmission.”