Coronavirus: Contact tracers scramble to halt fresh NSW outbreaks

Sydney’s latest COVID-19 outbreak is entering new territory as cases crop up in the city’s southwest.

Sydney’s latest COVID-19 outbreak is entering new territory as cases crop up in the city’s southwest, but health authorities have signalled they may be getting on top of potential chains of transmission.

NSW recorded 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, of which six were locally acquired.

Three of the new cases were linked to the growing Lakemba GP cluster, one is a contact of a household contact of a man in Bargo, 100km southwest of Sydney. But two cases are still under investigation.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the authorities were “closely monitoring” case numbers and any potential easing of restrictions, which were walked back on Tuesday, would need to be balanced with the new health risks. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said public health officials were scrambling to track a “very large number of patients” of the Lakemba GP clinic epicentre of the latest outbreak to catch any potential contacts.

“My comfort level is going to go up and down. I was more concerned, (but) I am less concerned today,” she said.

Mr Hazzard urged the community to be truthful when they come forward for testing, after a Melbourne truck driver failed to inform authorities of a trip to the town of Shepparton for two weeks.

“Public health officials need to be able to track the trains of transmission,” he said. “That’s impossible if people do not tell us where they have been.”

The peak body representing pathology testing makers is urging governments to embrace rapid testing to stamp down outbreaks as they grow.