How cases in Sydney Covid-19 hotspot exploded in a matter of days

Just three weeks ago, this area had zero cases. Now it’s at the centre of Sydney’s worst coronavirus outbreak with the focus on Fairfield.

Less than one month ago, there were zero coronavirus cases in Fairfield in Sydney’s west. But now, the area is regarded as the centre of the city’s worst outbreak since the pandemic began.

More than 100 people in Fairfield have contracted Covid-19 since the outbreak began in mid-June when an airport driver in the city’s east contracted the Delta variant of the illness.

And while cases still exist in the Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick council areas where it was initially spread, the virus has run rampant at out-of-control rates across the city’s west.

RELATED: Sydney lockdown extended by two weeks

People responded to new rules requiring them to get tested every three days if they leave the Fairfield LGA – with testing queues quickly stretching back kilometres. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

Concern began when the driver, in his 60s, tested positive on June 16 after being in the community while infectious for several days.

By June 23, there were 12 cases of the virus in the council area of Waverley, a further six in the City of Sydney council area, three in Woollahra, three in Bayside, three in Liverpool and three in Camden.

Cases grew exponentially in the following week to June 30, with numbers soaring across eastern council areas of Waverley, Randwick and Sydney, while cases jumped dramatically in the west.

In one week, the Canterbury-Bankstown council area went from zero to 17 cases after the virus leaked further west from Bayside, where the area’s cluster grew to 11.

There was another giant jump in case numbers from June 23 to 30 for Liverpool, where the cluster grew from three to 23, while Fairfield recorded its first three cases.

As case numbers shot up in Sydney’s inner east the following week, with the Waverley cases reaching 61 and Randwick numbers hitting 40, the Delta strain officially staked its claim on the city’s west.

Virus takes hold in the west

In just one week to July 7, the Fairfield cluster grew aggressively from three to 25, while neighbouring council areas Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown grew to 28 and 31 respectively.

Meanwhile, disturbing case numbers were reported for Georges River in the same period, with 19 cases detected and 16 in Bayside, while the City of Sydney’s cluster grew to 24.

In just five days to July 11, Fairfield had the biggest growth in cases yet, with 80 more people testing positive to the virus, skyrocketing the council area’s total to 105.

Things weren’t much better in the Canterbury-Bankstown area where the cluster grew from 31 to 73 in a matter of a few days, while Liverpool grew once again, reaching 37 total cases.

The disturbing volumes of cases and the speed at which they were acquired saw additional police units deployed to the area to patrol for Covid rule breaches.

The harsh move was widely condemned by members of the public, who accused authorities of racially discriminating against people in the west.

It was argued that during the initial outbreak in highly populated areas across Sydney’s inner east, the same force was not used, despite massive crowds seen gathering outdoors.

On Wednesday, Dr Kerry Chant reiterated her praise for the community and said residents need to stay focused across the state.

“Whilst we are intensively focusing on supporting the communities in Fairfield to identify cases and to stop spreading... it is important that we don’t lose focus on adjacent government areas of Liverpool and also the Canterbury Bankstown local government areas but also broader Greater Metropolitan Sydney,” Dr Chant said.

A Fairfield LGA resident shown at a testing site on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

New testing rules for Fairfield LGA

In a bold move to slow transmission in the Fairfield LGA, the NSW Government yesterday introduced new rules requiring people who need to leave the area for work to have a Covid-19 test every three days, regardless of whether they have symptoms.

However the directive led to shocking scenes on Wednesday morning as testing queues in the Fairfield LGA stretched back kilometres, with locals told there would be at least a four-hour wait before they could be seen.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said on Wednesday the new rules would not come into effect until Saturday and affected people could get tested at venues outside of their LGA.

NSW recorded 89 new cases on Tuesday and a further 97 on Wednesday, with 24 of those from within the Fairfield LGA.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the extension of Greater Sydney’s lockdown for at least another two weeks, to the end of July.