Three aged care residents at a northwest Sydney facility have caught COVID-19 from an infected staff member but are asymptomatic and in good spirits, operators say.

Two of the three residents were also fully vaccinated against the virus.
SummitCare Baulkham Hills said in a statement on Sunday the residents were transferred to Westmead Hospital as a precautionary measure but are doing well.

“The fact that the affected residents are showing no symptoms at this stage shows their early vaccinations have worked,” a SummitCare spokesman said.

All other tests on workers and staff at the Baulkham Hills facility have returned negative so far and the site is in full lockdown. Deep cleaning is taking place.

Almost all of SummitCare Baulkham Hills’ 149 residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian, meanwhile, says it is “too soon” to tell whether the lockdown of Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong will be extended beyond July 9.

Lockdown in the balance

NSW is in a critical phase of its two-week lockdown, with cases uncovered in the coming days to help determine if stay-at-home orders have to be extended.

The state recorded 35 local virus cases in the 24 hours to 8pm Friday, bringing the current outbreak to 261 cases.

While it’s the highest daily case number since the state’s first wave in early 2020, the majority of cases have been in isolation for their entire infectious period.

“If all of us continue to do the right thing, we’re able to leave the lockdown in a timely way. The next few days will be telling,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters.

The Premier said authorities wanted to see a rise in the proportion of new cases that were already in isolation, with the next several days critical to the lockdown effort.

Authorities listed a string of new exposure sites across Sydney on Friday and Saturday.

The latest cases show the epicentre of the outbreak has shifted from the city’s east, to the western and southwestern suburbs.

Anyone who has been in the centre of Auburn in Sydney’s west since June 27 is being told to get tested, even if they don’t have symptoms.

New close-contact exposure sites were announced late on Saturday at Hop Hung Asian Grocery in Lakemba on June 30 and Strathfield Plaza Medical Practice on July 1.

-AAP