COVID NSW: Virus detected in Marrickville sewage, Perrottet in isolation

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has been forced to self-isolate after being linked to Sydney’s mystery COVID case. The virus has now been detected in sewage, as QR code use plunges across the state.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has been sent into self-isolation after being deemed a close contact of Sydney’s mystery COVID case.

Mr Perrottet visited the District coffee shop near the NSW government’s ministerial offices on Friday at the same time as the new COVID case.

A health alert was issued for the cafe yesterday afternoon.

Mr Perrottet will turn his home into “budget HQ” while he self-isolates for 14 days after visiting the cafe on Friday. He has already tested negative.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has been deemed a close contact of Sydney’s mystery COVID case. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

He told The Daily Telegraph his check-in at the venue did not register despite scanning the QR code.

“I was having coffee with a mate, who’s a silk,” he said. “We both scanned the QR code and I believed I’d completed the check in, though it didn’t register.

“My friend notified me yesterday evening after seeing the public health advice and I immediately completed a test and went into isolation. This was before either of us were contacted by NSW Health.”

INNER WEST SEWAGE ALERTS

On Wednesday, NSW recorded its first COVID-19 community transmission case in months, an Eastern Suburbs man in his 50s, who traversed the city while infectious.

NSW Health issued alerts for affected venues last night as authorities wait for genomic sequencing to help trace the source of the mystery infection.

Fragments of the virus have also been found in the Marrickville Sewage Network with a catchment of about 42,000 people.

The sewage alerts affect people in the Marrickville catchment, which takes sewage from Dulwich Hill, Marrickville, Summer Hill, Lewisham, Ashfield, Haberfield, Petersham, Lilyfield and Leichhardt.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian, and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant, providing a COVID update on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The last known locally transmitted case of the virus in NSW was on January 13, a single case, linked to a southwest Sydney cluster.

In March, an overseas traveller also contracted the disease while in hotel quarantine. This was technically classified as a local transmission.

NSW Health has urged people in affected areas to be vigilant in monitoring for symptoms, and get tested and isolate immediately if they appear.

A new COVID-19 pop-up testing clinic has been set up at the Albion Street Centre Laverty Pathology at 50 Albion St, Surry Hills.

Hours will also be extended at existing clinics, including drive-throughs, to support increased testing in Sydney’s east and inner city.

QR CODE USES PLUNGES

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello has urged Sydneysiders not to drop their guard, revealing there had been a 25 per cent drop in QR codes use.

“We’ve taken it for granted. We live in this great island nation and we think we’re immune but clearly, we are not. I think it is complacency people just assume we are safe. You only have to long around the world to see the virus is raging,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

“We all have to be on our A-game.

There are more than 300 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW, many of which are open seven days a week.

Already more than 20 close contacts for the infected man have been identified.

The source of latest COVID-19 case is a mystery with no obvious links to health professionals or hotel quarantine staff.

Originally published as COVID NSW: Virus detected in Marrickville sewage, Perrottet in isolation