Coronavirus: Concern over low testing numbers as Sydney health clinic cluster grows

The NSW Premier has hit back at a suggestion from Queensland that she has given up on a key part of the battle against the coronavirus.

Health authorities in NSW are concerned over low testing numbers as a Sydney coronavirus cluster grew by four cases today.

The state recorded a total of 10 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours — with five of those coming from hotel quarantine and five being locally acquired and linked to a known cluster.

Four of the new locally acquired cases reported today are associated with the private health clinic cluster. Three of these are household contacts of a case reported yesterday and the fourth is a co-worker of a case reported yesterday. There are now seven cases associated with this cluster.

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NSW has recorded 10 new cases in the past 24 hours. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

One of today’s locally acquired cases is included in the total numbers for NSW, but all indications are that it is an old case most likely acquired when the virus was circulating at low levels in South Western Sydney around August. This case is associated with the Liverpool Hospital cluster.

Amid a spike in community-spread cases this week, health authorities have expressed concern over a drop in testing.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said there have been 12,868 tests received in the past 24 hours.

“Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern,” NSW Health said in a statement. “NSW Health renews its call for increased testing across Sydney, even if you have the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms that could be COVID-19.”

PREMIER HITS BACK AT ‘REALLY OFFENSIVE’ SUGGESTION

At this morning’s press conference, Premier Gladys Berejiklian hit back at a suggestion from the Queensland Health Minister that NSW had effectively given up on its aspirations to reach zero community transmission cases.

Queensland’s Health Minister Steven Miles said today it was “disappointing” to see NSW effectively “give up” on the goal.

Earlier this week, Ms Berejiklian said it was “highly improbable” that NSW will ever get to the 28 days of no community transmission needed to reopen the border with Queensland.

Today, she said the assertion that NSW had “given up” on the target was “really offensive”.

“All of us have been working day and night. We’ve been battling for months and months to get to that aspiration,” she said. “Zero community transmission is of course our aspiration. But is it really realistic over 28 days in a state the size of NSW, when we have an open economy and I would say that is a very high benchmark.”

She said she hoped to be able to reduce community transmission to zero, but questioned whether it was “realistic” to be able to sustain it over such a long period of time in a pandemic.

Community transmission has increased in NSW this week. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

She also renewed her plea to other states to open up, saying NSW was carrying the burden of the nation by taking a substantially higher number of Australians into its hotel quarantine system than anywhere else.

“It would really easy for me to say to every other state, we’re not going to take your people into hotel quarantine, you have to take them yourself but we don’t do that in NSW,” she said.

“All I’m saying is to the other states is look what we’re burdening in NSW, look at the GST contribution you get from us on average and just move a little bit, just share the burden a little bit. I just think it’s a little bit unfair.”

NSW Health is treating 52 COVID-19 cases, including two in intensive care. Neither patient requires ventilation. Eighty-seven per cent of cases being treated by NSW Health are in non-acute, out-of-hospital care.