COVID-19 Batemans Bay: Discovery of coronavirus in sewage sparks testing call

Batemans Bay residents with even the mildest symptoms are being asked to get tested for COVID-19.

NSW Health is urging residents in the Batemans Bay area to be tested for COVID-19 even with the mildest symptoms. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

NSW Health is calling on residents of the Batemans Bay area to get tested if they have even the mildest COVID-19 symptoms.

Fragments of the virus that causes the disease have been detected in samples taken analysed by the state’s sewage surveillance program, the department said.

According to NSW Health, the samples were taken on November 17 from the sewerage system that serves Batemans Bay area.

Fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 were found in the town’s sewage system. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

The catchment takes sewage from approximately 21,000 people.

“The positive sewage result can be due to shedding of the virus by someone who may have previously had the illness, with the virus ‘shedding’ through their system for up to six to eight weeks later,” the department said.

“While this positive result may be explained by a previous case who is no longer infectious, as a precaution, NSW Health is calling on people in the Batemans Bay area to get tested if they have even the mildest COVID-19 symptoms.”

NSW recorded no new cases of locally acquired COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

Three cases were reported in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 4,328 since the start of the pandemic.