Sydney tourist infected with coronavirus shuts down popular Jervis Bay cafe

A restaurant on the NSW south coast has been forced to close after two Sydneysiders dined at the premises and tested positive for COVID-19.

A south coast restaurant has been forced to close after two Sydney holiday-makers dined at the premises and have since tested positive for COVID-19.

On Tuesday, NSW recorded its biggest jump in coronavirus cases in almost four months, with the Premier warning the state is on a “knife’s edge”.

Four of those are from people in hotel quarantine, two are from Victoria and eight are linked to the Tangara school cluster in Cherrybrook.

Taking to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, Wildginger in Huskisson announced two infected patrons who were holidaying in the area dined at the restaurant on August 8 from 8pm.

They tested positive to coronavirus on Monday.

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The post on Facebook revealed a cafe on the NSW south coast had to be closed because of a tourist testing positive.

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“Please be advised that at this time, NONE of our staff have tested positive for COVID-19 and the incident was from patrons visiting from Sydney,” a member of the “Asian fusion” restaurant said in a Facebook post.

“The matter has now been taken over and IS being handled by the NSW Department of Health. They will be directly contacting anyone who was at Wildginger during the ‘at risk hours’.”

The restaurant said it was “devastated” by the news and announced they would be closing for two weeks while staff undergo a mandatory two week quarantine period.

Green Patch Beach in Huskisson, Jervis Bay, NSW. Picture: Tourism Australia

“Rest assured we have remained 100 per cent compliant with all rules and guidelines regarding COVID-19 and our procedures were verified and approved by local police on Saturday night during a routine inspection, and the NSW Department of Health today,” the restaurant said.

NSW Health has released a breakdown of the 22 new COVID-19 cases recorded across the state.

Of the new cases:

– 16 were locally acquired and linked to known cases,

– four are returned travellers from overseas,

– one was acquired in Melbourne,

– one was locally acquired, and is under investigation.

Eight of the cases are linked to the Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook, including five students, a staff member and two social contacts of a confirmed case.

The original source of the cluster still remains a mystery, with the total number of cases now linked to the outbreak reaching 17.

Two more of the cases announced today are close contacts of a previously reported case at the Batemans Bay Soldiers’ Club.

Wildginger has been closed because two tourists visited the restaurant while infected.

This development brings the number of cases linked to the club’s outbreak to 10.

“One of the two cases is a student at Batemans Bay High School. The other attends Batemans Bay Public School,” NSW Health said.

“The schools are closed today for cleaning, and contact tracing is under way.”

NSW’s biggest cluster, the Thai Rock Wetherill Park outbreak, has increased in size, with one of today’s cases linked to the restaurant.

This cluster now has 112 cases associated with it.

“My anxiety has not subsided in relation to what a knife’s edge NSW is on,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said during today’s press conference.

“We are in a pandemic. Every organisation, every entity needs to abide by the COVIDSafe plans.

“Otherwise we risk having a surge in numbers and we also risk having a surge in clusters and none of us want to see that.”