Alerts for Aldi, Coles and Woolworths shoppers as Covid hotspots grow

There have been alerts for shoppers at Aldi, Coles and Woolworths in New South Wales and Victoria over cases of coronavirus present in stores.

NSW reported no new cases of Covid-19 on Monday but two cases were reported after the 8pm deadline on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Victoria reported three more cases of coronavirus attached to a growing cluster in southeast Melbourne.

Warning for Woolworths in Sydney’s west

NSW Health issued a warning on Monday afternoon telling anyone who went to Woolworths at Lidcombe in Sydney’s west to get tested and self-isolate until receiving a negative result.

It’s for shoppers who went to the Woolies on New Year’s Eve between 12.15-3.45pm.

Anyone who visited the Woolworths in Berala all day on December 20 to December 24 and between December 26 and December 31 should get tested immediately and self-isolate.

Acting Premier John Barilaro has implored western Sydney residents to be swabbed if they have the slightest of symptoms, even if they have been tested previously.

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Some 22,275 people were tested in the 24-hour period ending at 8pm on Sunday, up from 18,923 the previous day - but Mr Barilaro said testing numbers are still “too low”.

The government wants to see 30,000 to 50,000 tests each day.

Of the two cases recorded overnight, one is a man in his 40s who visited the Berala BWS on Christmas Eve. The other is a woman in her 40s who has "some association" with the Berala BWS and Woolworths, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said.

Anyone who visited the BWS or Woolworths between 12.30pm and 2pm on December 20 is urged to get tested immediately, even if they do not have symptoms.

Most who dropped by the BWS over the Christmas period are considered close contacts who must isolate for 14 days.

NSW Health expects more cases to emerge from the Berala cluster, which now officially tallies 13.

Mr Barilaro admitted earlier on Monday that contact tracing at the BWS was a colossal task, as QR codes are not mandatory at NSW bottle shops.

There are fresh alerts as well for the Berala Woolworths on December 24, 26, 28 and 31.

Aldi and Coles shoppers on alert in Melbourne

A person with coronavirus visited an Aldi in Cheltenham in Melbourne’s southeast on December 29, Victoria’s health department said.

They were in the store from 2-2.30pm and anyone who was also there at the same time is being told to watch for symptoms. If they develop, get tested and self-isolate immediately until a negative result is received.

Cases also shopped in Coles at Burwood and Camberwell on December 28 at 6.30-7pm and 12-12.30pm respectively.

Another case also shopped at Coles Hallam between 6.15-6.30am on December 30 and Coles Chirnside Park on New Year’s Eve from 10-10.15am.

Testing commander Jeroen Weimar said on the four-day mark of Victoria's latest Covid-19 outbreak that they are on track to keeping it under control.

It took less than 24 hours to identify the Buffalo Smile Thai restaurant as the critical link between cases, with a growing number of exposure sites quickly identified after that.

Latest exposure sites include a Boost Juice at Chadstone, a Puffing Billy railway stop in Emerald and a Sikh temple in Keysborough.

The Grape and Grain cellars in Moorabbin was also upgraded as an exposure site on Monday.

It is one of 13 sites linked to the cluster where anyone who has visited in a defined period must be tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days.

Visitors to another 29 sites must be tested immediately and quarantine until they have a negative result.

A third category carries a warning where anyone who develops symptoms should go for testing, and this includes more than 50 sites.

All positive cases in the cluster - which genomic testing shows seeded from NSW - have been tied back to the Black Rock restaurant in bayside Melbourne.

Mr Weimar has supported the rapid decision to shut down the border with NSW, forcing more than 60,000 people to cut short holiday plans and rush home to Victoria.

"We're not dealing with a game where the goalposts don't move - they moved radically on New Year's Eve when we saw the virus imported from NSW here in Victoria at Black Rock," Mr Weimar told Melbourne's 3AW radio.

"We can't just ignore that and say we don't want to play by the rules we've always had."

With AAP

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