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NSW coronavirus infections up to 1405 as government focuses on local transmissions
By Lisa Visentin
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says COVID-19 cases in the state are still increasing, and authorities are most concerned about community-to-community transmission.
The Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said that as of 8pm Thursday, there were 1405 cases in NSW - an increase of 186 cases from the same time on Wednesday night.
A doctor from Bathurst Base Hospital and a one-year-old child are among the newly confirmed cases.
Social distancing at the Premier's press conference on Friday.Credit: AAP
The total cases from the Ruby Princess cruise ship has increased to 162, as a further 41 passengers were confirmed positive overnight.
A further 10 cases were also confirmed for the Ovation of the Seas, taking the total to 41.
Seven cases have also been confirmed in connection with a Bali wedding on March 21, with two from NSW and five from interstate.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media on Friday. Credit: AAP
While the majority of cases were overseas acquired, 877 in total, Ms Berejiklian said authorities were most concerned by the number of locally-acquired cases with no known source, which has increased to 145.
"When you have cases that come from overseas, you can monitor them and you have a source," she said.
"But when it is community-to-community transmission and you don't have a source ... that means the virus is starting to spread in the community without us knowing where and that's a concern. That's why it is so important that all of us, all of us, maintain social distancing."
A further 278 cases are locally acquired but can be traced to a confirmed case, or a known cluster. The number of people being treated for the virus in NSW is 134, with 19 in ICU and 53 in hospital wards.
Ms Berejiklian also reinforced reports on Friday morning that NSW was prepared to go it alone with tougher lockdown measures.
"If NSW has to take difficult decisions we will," she said. "We don't want more people in hospital than we can cope with."
Ms Berejiklian made the remarks before she met with the National Cabinet on Friday morning, with the meeting expected to focus on giving states more flexibility to respond to the crisis.
But she added the trigger for implementing tougher measures was not a single number, saying there were a "number of things you need to look at" and "every decision we make has massive consequences."
"Most importantly, what we look at is community activity to make sure people aren't breaking the rules that we set in place. We also look at the number of people who are presenting at hospital.
"If I gave you a number and said this is the trigger point, that would be a mistake because that's not the right way to look at the decision-making at this point."
Ms Berejiklian ruled out shutting borders, adding Victoria also opposed the measure.
"I don't see how shutting state borders helps," she said. "NSW and Victoria are on the same page."