Coronavirus: Bondi local council area has become a coronavirus hotspot

The council that manages Bondi and Bondi Beach has recorded the most cases of coronavirus in the state as well as large clusters of local transmission.

Waverley Council is now a coronavirus hotspot, recording a whopping 105 of NSW’s 1219 COVID-19 cases.

The desirable beachside local government area (LGA) is topping the state for coronavirus cases and clusters of local transmission days after thousands were seen ignoring health warnings.

The number of confirmed cases in the Waverley Council LGA far outstrips any other number recorded by an LGA.

The desirable and affluent beachside suburbs have quickly streaked ahead as the nation’s leaders in coronavirus infections, transmissions and are also leading the charge in the rates of positive test results returned by more than one per cent.

Perhaps more alarming than the sheer number of cases are two separate clusters of local transmission in Waverley Council. The two clusters, of 16 and 19 people respectively, were both transferred on the same day last week.

Waverley Council LGA incorporates suburbs in Sydney’s eastern suburbs including beachside locals Bondi and Bondi Beach, Rose Bay, Tamarama and Bronte.

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People enjoying the Bondi esplanade on Friday morning. Picture: John Grainger

The carpark at Bondi Beach is still open for use. Picture: Picture Rohan Kelly

The shocking numbers come just a week after scenes at Bondi Beach caused national outrage and condemnation from health leaders and the Prime Minister. Thousands were seen packing onto the beach, after numerous warnings from health authorities to practice social distancing and stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Waverley Council has now recorded 105 cases of coronavirus. They’re followed by Sydney LGA which has 69 cases of COVID-19, the Northern Beaches LGA which has 68, and Woollahra, nestled next to Waverley, which has 66.

Waverley has also topped the state for the most cases of locally acquired COVID-19 with an unknown source of infection. The LGA has recorded eight instances of this, along with Hornsby which has also had eight instances of transmission with no known source.

Some may suggest this is because of more testing in Waverley Council, and Waverley LGA is the second most tested area in the state. But the Northern Beaches has conducted more than 1800 more tests than Waverley, and is returning better results.

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In the Northern Beaches, the positive results for those tested for COVID-19 are 1.88 per cent. In Waverley, those being tested are coming back almost an entire percentage point more likely to have COVID-19, at 2.82 per cent.

The area also recorded two separate clusters of local transmission that occurred on March 17. The two clusters of infections affected two groups of people – a group of 16 and group of 19. They were all subject to local transmission COVID-19 while somewhere in Waverley Council.

Clusters of local transmission have also been recorded in other LGAs, including one case of 34 people being infected with the virus in Wollongong on March 9. A group of 19 were infected with the virus in Ryde on February 24, and another two have been infected in Camperdown in Sydney’s inner west.

Bondi Beach was closed last week. Picture:

Today, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the number of community transmissions of coronavirus with “no source” was of great concern.

“We are at a critical stage in the disease,” she said.

“The number of cases are increasing in NSW. The one figure that we are most worried about is the number of people that are getting it within the community.

“The community to community transmission is what we are concerned with. When you have cases that come from overseas, you can monitor them and you have a source.

“But when it is community to community transmission and you don’t have a source, that means the virus is starting to spread in the community without us knowing where, and that’s a concern.

“That’s why it is so important that all of us, all of us, maintain social distancing if we have to be out and about.”

In NSW a total of 1219 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, including interstate residents who are being treated within the state. In the last 24 hours, 190 new people have returned positive tests for COVID-19, according to NSW Health.

A total of 10 people are in intensive care wards, four on ventilators, two who have been switched onto the highest flow setting as their lung capacity is so compromised.

A further 72,787 people have tested negative for COVID-19 in the state, according to health authorities.

In the southeast Sydney area, 319 people have returned positive tests of the 11,313 tested, which is a 2.82 percentage rate.