Coronavirus: How patient zero sparked a crisis in NSW
Where did the coronavirus pandemic start in NSW? Since the first person who brought the disease back from Wuhan to Sydney 33 people have died. Here is how it all began.
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Who brought coronavirus into NSW? According to NSW Health data, the pandemic began in the state when a patient from the inner west suburb of Burwood presented to their GP with symptoms and was confirmed to have the virus on January 22.
Since then, the disease has spread to 2971 people and resulted in 33 deaths in NSW, as of data released on Wednesday morning.
On January 25 health authorities confirmed the man and two others, all aged 53, 43 and 35, were the first people to bring the virus to NSW after the trio arrived back in Sydney from the virus epicentre of Wuhan, China.
That same day texts reportedly began arriving on the phones of residents warning anyone who attended the My Health Medical Practice in Eastwood that they may have come into contact with an infectious disease.
The group had spent days seemingly engaging with the public before presenting to a GP, forcing NSW Health to scramble to trace their close contacts.
The next week, the usually vibrant suburbs of Burwood and Eastwood resembled ghost towns and cases which started with the trio began to soar.
Despite the rise in cases sparked by returning overseas travellers, the first case of coronavirus being transmitted locally in NSW did not occur until about a month later.
According to data released by NSW Health today, the first person-to-person transmission occurred in Ku-ring-gai on February 26 after people returning from China with the disease began to spread the virus locally.
Three more deaths from coronavirus were confirmed overnight, including another resident at the Anglicare Newmarch House at Caddens which has seen scores of cases over the past week.
The 92-year-old woman is the third virus fatality from the facility.
Of the 16 coronavirus patients being treated in intensive care units across the state, 16 are currently on ventilators.
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