Live coronavirus coverage: NSW 38 cases, 2 deaths

An 82-year-old NSW man with coronavirus, who died in a Sydney hospital overnight, was a resident of a Macquarie Park aged care home, where first person in the state to die of the virus also stayed. Seven staff and patients from the nursing home have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Michael Carayannis, Danielle Le Messurier, Clarissa Bye, David Barwell, Georgia Clark and Gillian McNally

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March 7, 2020 - 4:16PM

Coronavirus: how to protect yourself while traveling

An 82-year-old NSW man with coronavirus, who died in a Sydney hospital overnight, was a resident of a Macquarie Park aged care home, where first person in the state to die of the virus also stayed.

The man had been staying at BaptistCare's Dorthy Henderson Lodge aged care centre in Macquarie Park, where an aged care worker in her 50s worked while unaware she was infected.

He is the second person to die of COVID-19 in NSW.

A 95-year-old woman who was also a resident of Dorothy Henderson Lodge, died on Tuesday and was posthumously confirmed to have been infected with the virus.

James Kwan, a 78-year-old retired travel agent, also died of the virus in Perth last Sunday morning after being a passenger on the ill-fated Diamond Princess cruise ship.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant this morning passed on the sympathies of NSW Health to the family of the latest victim.

BaptistCare chief executive Ross Low described the death of the 82-year-old man as “incredibly difficult”.

Mr Low said the man was hospitalised last Sunday with a respiratory illness, which was identified on Wednesday as COVID-19.

Seven people have contracted the virus within the home including three staff members and four residents.

“I have just recently spoken with the family and shared my condolences. As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for the family and for us all,” Mr Low said.

“While we continue to take advice and guidance from NSW Health, the BaptistCare team are giving every effort to support and care for the residents, family and staff of Dorothy Henderson Lodge.”

In a statement released this morning, BaptistCare said there were no new cases of coronavirus at the home and management were reviewing infection control procedures daily.

- Perry Duffin, Christopher Harris and Jo Seymour

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Georgia Clark

Two women have been charged over a supermarket fight about toilet paper in Sydney’s southwest yesterday.

Police were called to the Chullora supermarket just after 7am over the dispute in the toilet paper aisle.

Supermarket staff intervened and separated the women until police arrived, NSW Police said.

Officers from Bankstown Police Station spoke to a 49-year-old woman, who alleged she has been assaulted.

About 8pm yesterday, two women attended Bankstown Police Station and spoke with investigators.

This morning two Bankstown women, aged 23 and 60, were issued court attendance notices for affray.

Both are due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on April 28, 2020.

Cleaning squads to blitz public transport hot spots

Jo Seymour

A new NSW taskforce will examine worst-case coronavirus scenarios on public transport, as train station cleaners blitz the networks most popular stations.

Cleaning protocols are also under review across the network with “increasing” efforts in high-traffic areas including stations at Central, Town Hall, Wynyard and Circular Quay.

Cleaners were out in force on Saturday disinfecting surfaces on trains and platforms.

Both infected ADF officers from NSW

Jo Seymour

At least one of the two Australian Defence Force members from NSW who tested positive to coronavirus was a close contact of an existing case.

Two officers who travelled to a meeting at Defence Headquarters in Russell, ACT, on February 28 – including a man in his 40s who flew return from Sydney – have been confirmed to have COVID-19.

Both are NSW residents, and were tested and confirmed to have the virus in the last week, but the ADF only publicly identified the cases today.

They were already counted among the NSW tally of confirmed cases, which currently stands at 38 people.

The Daily Telegraph understands one of the confirmed patients was a close contact of a person in Australia who had already contracted the coronavirus.

It is not known if the two ADF cases are directly linked, however they did both attend the same meeting in February.

Contact tracing for both cases has been underway all week, with immediate relatives, friends and colleagues alerted to their potential exposure.

Passengers in seats near the man in his 40s on the two flights between Sydney and Canberra have been asked to self-isolate and seek medical attention if showing flu-like symptoms. The two ADF members with coronavirus have been isolated.

ACT health authorities confirmed there have been no confirmed cases in Canberra as at March 8.

– Clare Armstrong

Full national coverage: https://bit.ly/2VUWzPW

Georgia Clark

An Australian Defence Force officer who lives in NSW and travelled from Sydney to Canberra for a meeting last month is one of two ADF staff who have tested positive to coronavirus.

The man, in his 40s, attended a meeting at Defence Headquarters in Russell, ACT on February 28.

A second person in the ADF has also tested positive for the coronavirus, but it is not yet known if they attended this meeting or what state they are from.

There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the ACT.

About 270 people in Canberra have been tested so far, but all have returned negative results.

Diagnosed ADF officer a NSW resident

Jo Seymour

An Australian Defence Force officer who lives in NSW and travelled from Sydney to Canberra for a meeting last month is one of two ADF staff who have tested positive to coronavirus.

The man, in his 40s, attended a meeting at Defence Headquarters in Russell, ACT on February 28.

A second person in the ADF has also tested positive for the coronavirus, but it is not yet known if they attended this meeting or what state they are from.

There are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the ACT.

About 270 people in Canberra have been tested so far, but all have returned negative results.

Georgia Clark

Anyone in doubt about potentially coming into contact with the coronavirus should get themselves tested even though it could stress the health system, the Federal government has advised.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the position was "very clear" _ if a person believed they may have come into contact with COVID-19 they should self isolate but also not hesitate to seek a test if they become concerned.

"If in doubt, get yourself tested, that's the important message," he said.

"Even though it can be a little bit of a stress on the system, we would rather people over test than under test."

Mr Hunt said Australia's chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy would be providing more health advice on Monday, but in principle people with flu symptoms needed to be vigilant.

"No country is immune, but Australia is deep in preparation, and already activation for making sure that people are protected," he said.

More than 105,000 people have now been infected with the disease across 95 countries and at least 3,600 have died.

Mr Hunt said Australians must rise to face the "challenges" presented by coronavirus and support nurses, medics and aged care workers trying to do their jobs.

"Our job, working with the states and territory … (and) working with the community, is to make sure that we are not just prepared, but that we are unified," he said.

"If in doubt, get tested": Health minister

Jo Seymour

"If in doubt, get yourself tested, that's the important message," he said.

"Even though it can be a little bit of a stress on the system, we would rather people over test than under test."

Mr Hunt said Australia's chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy would be providing more health advice on Monday, but in principle people with flu symptoms needed to be vigilant.

"No country is immune, but Australia is deep in preparation, and already activation for making sure that people are protected," he said.

More than 105,000 people have now been infected with the disease across 95 countries and at least 3,600 have died.

Mr Hunt said Australians must rise to face the "challenges" presented by coronavirus and support nurses, medics and aged care workers trying to do their jobs.

"Our job, working with the states and territory … (and) working with the community, is to make sure that we are not just prepared, but that we are unified," he said.

Georgia Clark

NSW Health is asking people who flew on one of two flights between Sydney and Canberra more than a week ago to self-isolate as they may have been in contact with a coronavirus patient.

Passengers in rows two to six on Qantas flight QF1509 from Sydney to Canberra at 6.45am on February 28, and people in rows three to seven on Virgin flight VA651 from Canberra to Sydney at 2.35pm on the same day have been ordered to self-quarantine.

These passengers must also call the Communicable Diseases Control information line on 5124 9213.

The ACT Health Directorate released a statement on Sunday saying it had been notified by the NSW Government that a person with COVID-19 may have been infectious when they travelled on those flights.

"Anyone else travelling on these flights in other rows are not considered to be close contacts and should monitor their health until 13 March and to contact their GP for assessment and testing if they develop any symptoms," the statement said.

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said there were currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the ACT.

However The Daily Telegraph understands at least one case in the ACT may be confirmed imminently once testing of some passengers on the infected flight is completed.

The pending case is believed to be a public servant. They did not work at Parliament House.

– Clare Armstrong

Georgia Clark

Two members of the Australian Defence Force have been confirmed as having contracted the COVID-19 virus and are in isolation.

The two officers travelled to a meeting a Defence Headquarters in Canberra on February 28.

Defence is cooperating with NSW and ACT Health authorities to contact, isolate, test and support persons involved.

Read more in our national coronavirus coverage: https://bit.ly/3cFuFNO

Read the Department of Defence statement at: http://bit.ly/COVID19ADF

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Live coronavirus coverage: NSW 38 cases, 2 deaths

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