NSW records 65 new COVID-19 cases as numbers ‘bounce around’

NSW has reported 65 new local coronavirus cases on Thursday, although Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned case numbers would most likely increase as the number of people infectious in the community remained “too high”.

The Premier said, while the case numbers – down from 97 on Wednesday – were a “welcome drop”, the 35 cases who spent some time in the community while infectious were the critical number to watch in coming days.

SydPath staff conduct COVID-19 tests at the 24-hour drive-through clinic at Fairfield Showgrounds on Thursday.Credit: Louise Kennerley

“Whilst the case numbers are bouncing around, we are seeing a stabilisation,” she added. “They’re not growing exponentially. That tells us that the settings that we have in place are having an impact.”

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant particularly asked people in Emu Plains, in western Sydney, to be alert to symptoms after two unlinked cases were detected in the area.

Both cases had visited the Lennox Village Shopping Centre in the suburb, and people who were at the centre from 3.45pm to 5pm on Saturday are considered contacts and should get tested. Shoppers at the Woolworths from 4pm to 4.45pm are considered close contacts.

The areas of concern for health authorities are: Fairfield Heights, Smithfield, St Johns Park, Canley Heights and Fairfield West (all in the Fairfield area in south-west Sydney), Bankstown, Belmore, Condell Park, Roselands and Canterbury (all in the Canterbury-Bankstown area), Rosebery, the Sutherland Shire, Hurstville and the Georges River area, as well as the Liverpool local government area.

Dr Chant also highlighted four cases associated with a worksite at Greenacre, in western Sydney. Anyone on site at Hanson Concrete from July 1 to 13 has been considered a close contact.

Of the 65 new cases, 46 were from South Western Sydney Local Health District, eight from South Eastern Sydney, six were from Western Sydney, four were from the Central Sydney District and one was from Nepean Blue Mountains.

There are now 73 people with COVID-19 admitted to hospital in Sydney, including 19 in intensive care. Five are ventilated.

A positive test in a staff member at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse cancer treatment centre at Camperdown was under investigation, Dr Chant said, but by Thursday afternoon it was confirmed the person had returned subsequent negative tests.

Professor Michael Boyer, chief clinical officer for Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Australia, said the staff member lived in the Fairfield local government area and had been identified through routine testing.

The case comes after potential COVID-19 exposures were detected at western Sydney’s two largest hospitals on Wednesday.

Liverpool Hospital postponed all non-urgent surgery after a patient, believed to have been pregnant and having a C-section delivery, tested positive to COVID-19, sending dozens of staff into strict isolation.

The operating theatres at Liverpool Hospital, the largest in the city’s south-west, have undergone deep cleaning. NSW Health said emergency surgery at the hospital is continuing.

Meanwhile, a fully vaccinated nurse working on the COVID-19 ward at Westmead Hospital also tested positive, prompting NSW Health to conduct urgent investigations into the source.

In a statement, a spokesman for NSW Health said a staff member at the hospital tested positive on Wednesday during routine surveillance and was isolating at home. The nurse did not have symptoms.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard asked workers to have discussions with their employers about working from home.

“Please understand there actually is a health order requiring you to allow your workers to work from home unless they really can’t,” he said.

Asked why all retail stores were allowed to remain open despite customers being only allowed to leave the house for essential goods, Ms Berejiklian said, anecdotally and based on mobility data, the “vast majority” of retail stores had shut.

She asked Greater Sydney to adhere to the letter of the public health order and also to its intent.

“Every time you set foot outside your house, you need to ask yourself, ‘Do I need to be doing this?’ ”

Two additional 24-hour testing clinics began operation in the Fairfield area on Thursday morning to tackle long queues for swabs in south-west Sydney after the state government brought in new mandatory testing rules for locals working outside the virus-ravaged area.

A clinic opened at the Mounties Club car park at Mount Pritchard and the existing drive-through clinic at Fairfield Showground is operating 24 hours a day. Another a 24-hour clinic opened at Endeavour Sports Park on Tuesday morning.

The hours of the Wetherill Park drive-through clinic have been extended to 7am to 10pm.

No additional cases were reported in Victoria overnight after 11 cases were detected throughout Wednesday, in what has become the most significant intrusion of Sydney’s outbreak interstate.

Mask-wearing rules were reintroduced in Victoria at midnight to combat the growing number of cases, which are linked to removalists and a Melbourne family who had recently been in NSW.

Several cases have been detected in a Maribyrnong apartment complex in the city’s north-west, where the removalists worked for a number of hours while infectious.

More than 70 high-risk exposure sites have been identified in Melbourne and regional Victoria, including public transport routes, the MCG and Highpoint Shopping Centre.

Three new cases were reported in Queensland overnight: a 12-year-old boy who completed hotel quarantine in Sydney before flying to Brisbane and his parent, as well as a fully vaccinated international airport worker.

With Jenny Noyes and Cassandra Morgan

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