Hills, Hornsby coronavirus cases with an unknown source increase as schools and businesses close
A number of places in The Hills and Hornsby local government areas have been confirmed to be affected by positive coronavirus cases. It comes as the number of cases by an unknown source rises.
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Hornsby and The Hills have become the latest coronavirus clusters in the state with several people testing positive to the virus including a healthcare worker at Hornsby hospital and a number of students and a teacher at a Cherrybrook school.
A parishioner at a Pennant Hills church and a staff member at PharmaSave at Appletree Shops in Cherrybrook are also among those who are confirmed to have COVID-19.
The pharmacy has since closed with a NSW Health spokesman stating the staff member was wearing a mask while working but customers were being urged to monitor symptoms if they attended PharmaSave from 4pm to 7pm on Thursday, August 6.
The pharmacy provided more details on Facebook, stating the staff member is a student at Tangara.
“We have taken precautionary measures to ensure all our staff wear face masks, social distance while talking to customers in the aisle, sanitise frequently, wipe down all hard surfaces every hour and counsel all our customers behind perspex protective barriers.
“Due to abiding by these precautionary measures, our 2 staff members that had direct contact with the junior staff member, have been very fortunate to come back with a negative covid-19 test result. They will however, remain in isolation for 14 days to ensure their family and community members stay safe and well.”
It was confirmed the pharmacy will be reopen on Tuesday, August 11.
Tangara School for Girls in Cherrbybrook confirmed in a Facebook post on Sunday there was a second student who had tested positive with the prestigious upper north shore school set to return to “face to face learning on Monday August 24”.
Tangara school principal Rita Sakr sent a letter to students and parents last Friday confirming a student had tested positive for the first time during the second wave and the school had become “non operational”.
This morning premier Gladys Berijiklian announced 14 new cases with five of the new cases linked to Tangara including four student and a household contact.
An additional teacher and student at Tangara have tested positive for the virus, and they will be counted in Tuesday‘s numbers.
That brings the cluster size to nine people including six students. The original source of the cluster is unknown.
On Sunday NSW Health stated a parishioner at St Agatha’s in Pennant Hills was diagnosed with COVID-19, with church goers urged to monitor symptoms if they attended any services in the last week.
The parishioner attended services on Wednesday, August 5 and Thursday, August 6 from 6.30am to 7am on both days before becoming symptomatic.
Also on Saturday NSW Health revealed a healthcare worker at Hornsby Hospital had COVID-19 and was active with the virus while she worked.
“The staff member worked for one shift while infectious; this was in the hospital’s Emergency Department on Thursday, August 6 from 11am to midnight,” a Northern Sydney Local Health district spokesman said.
“The staff member became unwell after their shift and immediately self-isolated and got tested for COVID-19.”
The staff member was wearing a mask at all times while in contact with patients with the hospital contacting patients who could be affected while other staff who were in close contact instructed to self-isolate for 14 days.
There is no impact on the services provided by the Emergency Department.
“Members of the public who attended the Emergency Department between 11am and midnight on Thursday and had contact with the health care worker are currently being identified and will be notified,” the spokesman said.
The health care worker was a household contact of another case.
Cases by suburb
The number of active coronavirus cases in The Hills now stands at nine as of 8pm on August 8. Concerningly, three out of those nine cases have an unknown source.
The breakdown of the cases in The Hills by postcode is as follows:
2155 - Beaumont Hills, Kellyville and Kellyville Ridge: one active case
2156 - Annangrove, Glenhaven and Kenthurst: four active cases
2153 - Baulkham hills, Crestwood and Bella Vista: one active case
2155 - West Pennant Hills: one active case
2154 - Castle Hill -one active case
In the Hornsby local government area there are two active case but both those cases have a known source.
The two cases are in the postcode of 2120 - Pennant Hills, Thornleigh, Westleigh
Anybody who displays symptoms of coronavirus (fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell) is being urged to get tested and self-isolate.
There are a number of testing facilities in The Hills and Hornsby local government area.
For more details on testing clinics click here.