'Get tested': Five new coronavirus hotspots revealed
Five new coronavirus hotspots in NSW have been identified by health officials as the country starts taking steps to emerge from lockdown.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant urged for anyone who lives in Lithgow, Blue Mountains, Hornsby, Lane Cove or Northern Beaches council areas to get tested for the deadly virus during a press conference on Monday morning.
“We have identified a number of hotspots for testing," Dr Chant said.
"Whilst anyone across the state is urged to come forward with respiratory symptoms, we will also be naming those hotspots on a weekly basis where we want to have particularly enhanced testing.”
Dr Chant said the areas will be added to the existing 10 hotspots: Blacktown, Canada Bay, Cumberland, Goulburn, Inner West, Liverpool, Parramatta, Ryde, Randwick and Waverley.
Lithgow and the Blue Mountains west of Sydney have recorded 1 to 9 confirmed cases, according to the NSW Government’s area code tracker.
Hornsby in the city’s north has 20 to 29 cases, with more than 1,000 residents undergoing tests.
Lane Cove on the North Shore has 10 to 19 cases, as do suburbs in Sydney’s Northern Beaches council area.
The new coronavirus hotspots
Lithgow
Blue Mountains
Hornsby
Lane Cove
Northern Beaches
Two new coronavirus cases in NSW
NSW recorded just two new cases of COVID-19, in the 24 hours up until 8pm on Sunday night. It was the lowest number of daily cases recorded in seven weeks, encouraging health authorities seeking to halt the virus in its tracks.
The total number of coronavirus cases recoded in NSW is 3004, with 2,227 of those recovered. There have been no new deaths recorded since a sixth resident of a western Sydney aged care home died on Saturday.
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Dr Chant said the two new cases stemmed from overseas travel and a close family contact, and not through community transmission.
The 82-year-old resident of Newmarch House in Caddens – where almost 50 people have been infected with the coronavirus - died on Saturday, operator Anglicare Sydney said. The man's death brought the NSW COVID-19 death toll to 36.
Urgent calls for more testing
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday called for more testing in an effort to trace the source for community infections where such information is unknown.
There are “several hundred cases” where a source of the virus hasn’t been identified, she said.
“We need to stress the more people that get tested, the more people that come forward means we can control what the virus is doing in New South Wales.
“We can identify the contacts of the people who might have the virus and make sure everybody stays safe.”
with AAP
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