Coronavirus: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warns ‘we’re not out of the woods yet’

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warns ‘we’re not out of the woods yet’.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Sydney on Monday. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

As the cluster at the heart of Sydney’s CBD continued to grow, health officials urged public transport passengers to wear a face mask, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warning “we’re not out of the woods yet”.

Despite the extra four locally acquired infections taking the CBD cluster to 34 cases, Ms Bere­jiklian said initial fears about the ability of the cluster to spread hadn’t materialised, with each new case connected to a known source.

“We’re not out of the woods yet in relation to that cluster, but it’s pleasing to know that the rates of community transmission are not as bad as what we’d first anticipated, given the potential for the virus to spread amongst people coming into the city from various different locations,” she said on Monday morning.

Health officials strongly advised people to wear a face mask while on public transport or in supermarkets and other crowded areas, as Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant revealed the new case linked to the X39 bus hadn’t been wearing one when they were infected.

“We have clearly been messaging for many weeks about the importance of mask wearing when you’re … on buses or on trains, when you’re going to super­markets, or when you’re heading … into environments where social distancing is not practical,” Dr Chant said. “It’s just one small step that we urge the community which will assist us in helping the community.”

Of the 10 cases recorded in NSW, six were in hotel ­quarantine.