New Covid warning for Sydney suburbs as NSW cases spike
NSW has reported six new local coronavirus cases as a testing warning has been issued for several Sydney suburbs.
The news comes just two days after NSW reported no new Covid-19 cases.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said of the six, five were household contacts of a case reported on Saturday.
“So five out of the six – the spouse and the children of the house of the one case we had yesterday – and the sixth person is a very close contact of them in very close proximity,” she told reporters on Sunday.
Ms Berejikilian added: “Again, this demonstrates why we have those rules in place regarding households.
“There’s a number of people in that household, imagine if they welcomed a number of people into their household, what would have happened?
“I think this identifies why the health experts give us the advice they do and whilst every case is concerning, it's not unsurprising.
“But having said that, it just demonstrates how all of us have to be on our toes, all of us have to remain vigilant, especially if you live in those suburbs which Dr [Kerry] Chant is about to talk about.”
Currently, people living in Greater Sydney, which includes the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong, can only have five visitors into their home each day including children.
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NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant added people particularly living in Bankstown, Auburn, Berala and Wentworthville should come forward for testing.
Traces of Covid found at water treatment plant
NSW Health said traces of the virus that causes coronavirus was detected at the Glenfield water treatment plant in Sydney’s southwest.
It’s a treatment plant which services a number of different Sydney suburbs and the health department has urged people living in Airds, Ambarvale, Appin, Bardia, Blair Athol, Blairmount, Bow Bowing, Bradbury, Campbelltown, Casula, Claymore, Currans Hill, Eagle Vale, Englorie Park, Eschol Park, Gilead, Glen Alpine, Glenfield, Gregory Hills, Holsworthy, Ingleburn, Kearns, Kentlyn, Leumeah, Long Point, Macquarie Fields, Macquarie Links, Menangle Park, Minto, Raby, Rosemeadow, Ruse, St Andrews, St Helens Park, Varroville and Woodbine to come forward for testing.
“Everyone in these areas is asked to be alert for symptoms, to get tested immediately if they appear and then isolate until they receive a negative result,” the health department said.
There are also concerns about an infected person using a Centrelink in Auburn.
Residents are also being asked to monitor for symptoms after using the following train services to monitor for symptoms:
Warwick Farm to Auburn on Thursday, January 14 from 2.20pm to 2.56pm
Auburn to Warwick Farm on the same day from 8.27pm to 8.58pm
Warwick Farm to Auburn on Friday, January 15 from 10.40am to 11.12am
Auburn to Warwick Farm on the same day from 1.44pm to 2.16pm
Warwick Farm to Auburn again on Friday from 4.28pm to 4.58pm
The future for the NSW-Victoria border
The premier was asked whether her Victorian counterpart, Daniel Andrews, has spoken with her about relaxing the border restrictions.
Victorians in Brisbane have been allowed back into the state after the restriction was lifted at 6pm on Saturday.
“He's not been in touch with me at all but I also say that should have occurred quite a while back because we don't have a hotspot in New South Wales,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We are, of course, dealing with a result of an outbreak from a month ago, but I think everybody would agree that closing a border of such significance is a really big deal and I stress that we waited until Victoria had in excess of - I think it was 180 cases they had the day after we announced the border closure.
“Just to put things into perspective, those decisions are difficult ones, they affect a lot of people and I would just ask people to really think about those decisions before they're taken.”
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