Coronavirus live: String of venues hit with virus alerts

Woolworths, Dominos and Pizza Hut are among a slew of new venues in Sydney's west that have been hit with COVID-19 alerts. 

Woolworths, Dominos and Pizza Hut are among a slew of new venues in Sydney's west that have been hit with a COVID-19 alert, with residents urged to get tested. 

 

 

Most of the new locations flagged by NSW Health are in the suburb of Wentworthville, with anyone who visited the list of venues considered a casual contact and asked to get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result. 

Anyone who was at the Sydney Murugan Temple, 217 Great Western Hwy, Mays Hill on Friday, January 1 between 12:46pm and 1:06pm is now considered a close contact, and must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result.

The new warnings come amid reports that the hard border between Victoria and New South Wales may not open until the end of January.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said that - given the spread of the virus - the restrictions are likely to remain in place for the next four weeks.

“On current projections, it’s unlikely that the border will be removed before the end of January,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “But this a day-to-day, week-to-week, proposition. This is a fast-moving, silent virus that pays no respects to interstate borders.

“The advice is that given the spread, both in numbers-wise and now geographic wise in New South Wales, that prudent, safe measure is to keep the hard border in place until we are confident that the risk of transmission back into Victoria is dealt with.

“At the moment, we aren’t that confident so the border remains in place.”

Meanwhile, thousands of people are being urged to get tested in Melbourne after a new mystery case may have picked up his infection from either the MCG or stores in the Chadstone Shopping Centre.

Infectious disease physician Allen Cheng said a 30-year-old man – whose infection can't be linked to another case or a high risk location – attended day two of the Melbourne Test on December 27.

He was not infectious when he attended, however the MCG is being investigated as a potential source for the infection.

He also attended stores in the Chadstone Shopping Centre - on December 26 between 6am-2pm - which are being treated as potential acquisition sites for the infection.

The stores include: Culture Kings, Huffer, JD Sports, Jay Jays, H&M, Uniqlo, Myer, Superdry, Footlocker and Dumplings Plus.

Victoria's coronavirus testing commander Jeroen Weimar says 8000 people were in Zone 5 - where the case was seated - at the MCG, and "there'll be many thousands of people who've been through Chadstone".

He is urged Victorians potentially affected by the outbreak to stay away from the busy shopping centre.

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