Covid-19: Morisset and Maitland schools forced to close, Glendale shop listed as venue of concern

Two schools in Lake Macquarie and Maitland have been forced to shut and a major retailer listed as a venue of concern. A school in the neighbouring Central Coast region has also closed following Covid-19 cases.

A Lake Macquarie retail store has been identified as a venue of concern while a school has been forced to close after a student contracted Covid-19.

A Maitland City Councillor, Philip Penfold, is also reporting that parents of Maitland Christian School have been told the school is shut after two students tested positive.

People who attended Target Glendale between 8.30am and 1.30pm on Sunday, August 1, received a text message from NSW Health late on Wednesday night, telling them to immediately isolate and get tested.

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery said she had been informed a staff member at the store had tested positive for the virus.

Supplied Editorial Target Glendale has been identified as a venue of concern. Picture: Supplied.

The alert comes almost one year to the day since the Newcastle/Hunter’s last confirmed Covid case.

The NSW Health message was sent about the same time as an email notifying parents of the closure of Morisset High School, on the cusp of Lake Macquarie.

In the email principal Darren Brailey said the school would shut on Thursday for contact tracing and deep cleaning.

“The NSW Department of Education has been advised by NSW Health that a student at our school has tested positive for Covid,” Mr Brailey said in the email.

“Our school will be non-operational effective immediately for the on-site attendance of staff and visitors to allow for contact tracing and deep cleaning.

“All students are asked to self-isolate until you receive further advice.”

The email said anyone with cold or flu symptoms should seek Covid testing under the advise of NSW Health.

“We will continue to work closely with NSW Health to ensure that all necessary health advise is adhered to,” Mr Brailey said.

“While we recognise that this will be disruptive and inconvenient for families, it is important that we follow NSW Health advice and take all necessary precautions to minimise the risk of further transmission to support our community.”

Morisset High School has been closed for deep cleaning. Picture: Supplied.

The Department of Education-owned NSW School Updates app had been updated on Thursday morning to advise of the school closure.

Morisset High School is located in the Lake Macquarie Local Government Area, bordering on the Central Coast, and was not part of the Greater Sydney lockdown.

It is understood the student’s two siblings, who also tested positive for the virus, attended Lake Munmorah Public School on the Central Coast.

Supplied Editorial The NSW School Updates app confirmed Morisset High School was closed.

NSW Police has issued a warning for drivers to be patient around Covid testing facilities in the Lake Macquarie region.

“Lake Macquarie Police and the Traffic and Highway Patrol are currently conducting a traffic operation across the region, with a heavy presence around the Morisset Showground,” a statement said.

Heavy traffic was reported on Mandalong Rd extending back to the M1, and on Hillsborough Rd at Warners Bay.

Meanwhile, Cr Penfold tweeted on Thursday morning an image of a text message stating Maitland Christian School had been shut after two students tested positive.

“Please collect your children immediately – even if you are an essential worker,’’ the text read.

“Our school will be non-operational effective immediately for the on-site attendance of staff and visitors to allow time for contract tracing and cleaning.’’

Comment is being sought from the school.

The alerts come just one day after “very high” rates of Covid were detected in Hunter sewerage.

RELATED: The faces of Sydney’s lockdown hot spots

RELATED: Jab rates, where to get vaccinated, case numbers in the Hunter

EARLIER:

‘Sitting ducks’: Calls to toughen travel bans to Hunter

By Dan Proudman, on Tuesday, August 4

The detection of Covid-19 fragments in sewage treatment facilities covering 400,000 Hunter residents has prompted renewed calls for the State Government to toughen travel restrictions outside the lockdown zones.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian put hundreds of thousands of residents from Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens on alert after she revealed on Wednesday that “very high rates” of the virus had been detected in the Hunter.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant. Picture: Joel Carrett-Pool/Getty Images)

Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the Burwood and Shortland plants, which covers areas from the city to Cameron Park and north to Fern Bay, had detected higher readings than the “lower detection” at the Belmont facility, which looks after about 115,000 residents in eastern Lake Macquarie.

Hunter New England Health public health physician Dr David Durrheim said the results meant “someone in the community, or more than one person in the community that are infected with Covid-19 or have visited our region infected with Covid-19 and they have shed viral fragments’’.

“Now is the time where we have to hunt the virus down. We have to flush it out,’’ Dr Durrheim said.

“The only way we can do that is every single one of us who has a sore throat, a runny nose, shortness of breath, chest pain, a fever – don’t hesitate, immediately go and get tested.

“Go home, isolate, don’t take the virus out into the community until you get a negative result.

“All of us have to work together at this stage to make sure that we stamp out Covid in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and southern Port Stephens again.’’

But the news of the presence of Covid-19 in the Hunter has earned the wrath of the region’s politicians, who have called on the State Government to strengthen the travel ban to the region.

Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper

“This is exactly the thing we’ve been warning the government about,” Lake Macquarie independent MP Greg Piper said.

“You don’t need a degree in epidemiology to know that the best way of keeping Covid out of Lake Macquarie is to stop people coming here from Sydney.

“Certainly we need essential workers and essential deliveries, but we don’t need Uber drivers and tradies coming here, and we don’t need people driving up the M1 for a house auction. It’s ludicrous and too great a risk.

“Our luck is going to run out at some stage. We’ve got a nervous few days of wait ahead of us, but hopefully the Government now moves quickly to stop all but essential travel out of Sydney to our area.”

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery (ALP) echoed Mr Piper’s comments, referring to a positive case travelling through her electorate last month.

“I would like the Premier to crack down on travelling workers. I am really concerned about it,’’ Ms Hornery said.

“I would feel much more comfortable if Sydney-based workers did not come up here.’’

Port Stephens Labor MP Kate Washington.

Port Stephens MP Kate Washington (ALP) said her electorate was one of the old and lowest vaccinated areas of the state, and one which attracted many visitors.

“People are starting to feel like sitting ducks, the government must act,’’ Ms Washington said.

While the shadow minister for the Hunter, Swansea MP Yasmin Catley (ALP), whose electorate straddles parts of the lockdown zone, said the State Government had sent mixed messages to Hunter residents.

“Five days ago people were receiving text messages telling them their appointments to get the vaccine were delays while the shots went to Sydney,’’ Ms Catley said.

“And now the premier and chief medical officer is telling them to go and get tested.

“People have lost confidence in the government management of this.

“I have some telling me they waited three months for the vaccine and now they are not going to bother.’’

RELATED: Vax rates, Covid cases, jab hubs – everything you need to know about Covid

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said in a statement he was “furious” that, despite raising these issues with the government, its “refusal to act has put Newcastle at risk’’.

“Time and time again I have raised these Public Health Order loopholes with the NSW Government, and time and time again I have been fobbed off,” he said.

“Once again this Government has shown that they have little interest in protecting our region.

“They know what the issues are and they need to outline what they will do to fix them.

“If there is an outbreak in Newcastle it will be on this Government’s head.”

The detections came from testing done on Monday, with the results received on Tuesday night.

There were still no reported Covid-19 cases in the Hunter on Wednesday.

Dr. David Durrheim – Hunter New England Health. Supplied.

“Unfortunately, there’s still a possibility that a COVID-19 case is unidentified in the community,” Dr Durrheim said.

“Anyone feeling unwell – even with the mildest of symptoms such as a runny nose or scratchy throat – must seek testing and self-isolate until they get their result,” Dr Durrheim said. “Stay at home, and do not go to work, the shops, or catch public transport until you receive a negative test result.

“We would like to thank those who have presented for COVID-19 testing in light of the recent developments in NSW. It’s a big help in ensuring we stay on top of the virus.

“As we have done throughout the pandemic, we continue to monitor the number of people presenting to our testing clinics and scale our operating hours based on demand. We ask that people be patient when waiting for a test or swab results.”

Comment has being sought from Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s office.

The three sewage catchments where fragments of Covid-19 have been found are:

The Burwood Beach sewage catchment serves 225,834 people and includes the Newcastle City area and surrounding suburbs of Dudley, Charlestown, Jesmond, Lambton, New Lambton, Mayfield, Elermore Vale, Kotara, Garden Suburb, Adamstown Heights, Kahibah, Highfields, Merewether, Waratah West, Georgetown and Carrington.

The Belmont sewage catchment serves 115,000 people and includes Belmont, Warners Bay, Gateshead, Tingira Heights, Bennetts Green, Jewells, Redhead, Eleebana, Croudace Bay, Valentine, Marks Point, Blacksmiths, Pelican, Swansea, Swansea Heads, and Caves Beach.

The Shortland sewage catchment serves 60,000 people and includes Shortland, Cameron Park, Minmi, Fletcher, Maryland, Birmingham Gardens, Wallsend, Callaghan, Sandgate, Kooragang, Mayfield West, Fern Bay, Fullerton Cove and Stockton.

NSW Health has been contacted for comment.