One new Vic hotel quarantine case; Northern Beaches ‘patient zero’ may never be found

The person at the centre of NSW’s Northern Beaches outbreak may never be identified, as the cluster grew once again overnight.

• This coronavirus article is unlocked and free to read in the interest of community health and safety. Get full digital access to trusted news from the Herald Sun and Leader for just $5 a month for the first three months

NSW health authorities are warning the identity of patient zero in the explosive northern beaches cluster “may never be solved” as the outbreak continues to grow.

It comes as a further seven locally transmitted cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in NSW, with all but one of them linked to the northern beaches cluster.

Meanwhile, Victoria has recorded one new case of coronavirus in hotel quarantine.

The state has not recorded any locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for 58 consecutive days.

With two weeks now passing since the start of the outbreak, NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said authorities were no closer to finding the source, but were pursuing about 12 lines of inquiry.

“We‘re pursuing a lot of avenues of inquiry,” she said.

“We have the sequence data on the Avalon virus strain and we know that it matches most likely to US origin.

“We know that there was one person who arrived from overseas that was in hotel quarantine that had a close - not absolutely identical - but a similar strain, so that’s obviously a line of inquiry.

Northern Beaches residents on Boxing Day. Picture: Tim Hunter

“You can imagine we are doing a lot of testing and sometimes we will never be able to definitively conclude that (source of the cluster) because people clear the virus and if you have cleared the virus, we then are basing it on serological studies and we can never then check absolutely.”

Six of Sunday’s seven new cases were confirmed as part of the Avalon cluster.

The seventh case was “under investigation”, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the person had attended the Belrose Hotel.

Dr Chant said that seventh case was a firefighter – a man in his twenties – who lived in the Northern Beaches.

There were also five mystery cases NSW Health authorities were still trying to solve.

These include a person linked to Sydney’s CBD, a person from Bondi, a man who was in the CBD area in the Chifley Square/MLC buildings and the Circular Quay areas of the CBD, as well as a firefighter included in Sunday’s cases.

MELBOURNE HOSPITAL’S COVID SCARE

Royal Melbourne Hospital staff were forced into isolation on Saturday after a coronavirus scare.

It’s understood a patient who returned a positive COVID-19 test result was retested and returned a negative result.

The Department of Health and Human Services said its Expert Review Panel “had reviewed one case with discrepant test results” on Saturday night.

“Following review of clinical, epidemiological and testing evidence, this case was rejected and deemed negative,” a spokesman said.

It is not known if the hospital staff were released from isolation after the case was declared negative.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital refused to comment on Saturday night.

Royal Melbourne Hospital staff were forced into isolation after a patient returned a low positive result. Picture: David Caird

SYDNEY TO HOLD FIREWORKS DESPITE OUTBREAK

Victoria remains on alert with the Avalon cluster in Sydney’s northern beaches continuing to grow.

A further seven locally transmitted cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in NSW overnight, with all of them linked to the northern beaches cluster.

Six have been confirmed as part of the Avalon cluster.

Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks will go ahead, but spectators will most likely be watching it from home or a half-empty restaurant rather than harbourside.

Plans for a 5000-person fireworks event in the western suburb of Fairfield are also on track.

“Everybody should assume they’re watching the fireworks from home this year,” Ms ­Berejiklian said.

Shoppers at the Boxing Day sales in Sydney's CBD. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard became emotional on Saturday as he pleaded for young people who attended a massive Christmas Day party at Sydney’s Bronte Beach to “just stop it”.

Hundreds of people were seen chanting and dancing at the party before riot police broke it up about 3pm.

“That event, I am hoping will not become a super spreader event,” Mr Hazzard said. “But there’s every chance that it could be.”

Victoria has 10 active cases of COVID-19. Nine are returned travellers in hotel quarantine and one is a teenage girl who is isolating at home after contracting the virus in New South Wales.