NSW records three new COVID-19 cases in Western Sydney, no links to northern beaches cluster
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked the 32,000 people who were tested yesterday. Photo: AAP
NSW has recorded three new cases of COVID-19, all linked to western Sydney.
Two are from the same household and one is a close contact of someone in that house.
None of the cases are linked to the Northern Beaches cluster, chief health officer Kerry Chant said.
Tweet from @NSWHealth
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has asked anyone living in the suburbs of Greystanes, Auburn, Lidcombe and Berala to be on high alert for symptoms.
Genomic sequencing has also now revealed the Croydon cluster in Sydney’s inner west and the two cases in Wollongong are linked to the Avalon cluster on the northern beaches.
The cluster, which erupted earlier this month, remains at 144.
Dr Chant said a case from Croydon and another case from Wollongong both attended the Swallowed Anchor restaurant in Wollongong on December 19.
She called for anyone at the restaurant on that date to immediately get tested and self-isolate.
Across the state there were 32,000 COVID-19 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.
The growth in locally acquired COVID-19 cases in greater Sydney prompted the NSW government to limit home gatherings for New Year’s Eve to five visitors, down from 10, and outdoor gatherings to 30, down from 50.
Tweet from @NSWHealth
Sydneysiders were mostly banned from watching the city’s New Year fireworks from the harbour, with the foreshore fenced off.
Dr Chant reiterated the threat of COVID-19 was ever-present, saying “we are never going back to normal”.
“COVID potentially will change our lives at all times and it may be something like the flu where we have to learn how to manage it with the tool of having a vaccine … for literally years to come,” Dr Chant said on Thursday.
New health alerts were also issued on Wednesday and Thursday for various venues in NSW that were frequented by COVID-positive people.
They include close-contact alerts for The Swallowed Anchor wine bar in Wollongong on December 19, Earlwood Bardwell Park RSL on December 28, two venues inside Bankstown Sports Club on December 28, and a hair salon and nail salon at Bass Hill on December 24.
Stay-at-home orders applying to Northern Beaches residents north of the Narrabeen Bridge will continue until at least January 9. A lockdown for the peninsula’s southern zone will be in place until January 2.
Both Victoria and South Australia on Thursday also announced they would establish hard border arrangements with NSW, joining Western Australia.
-with agencies
