Sydney school coronavirus cluster linked to restaurant 200km away
Two of eight new coronavirus cases linked to a girl’s school in Sydney’s northwest have led to the closure of a restaurant on the NSW South Coast.
The two had visited Wildginger restaurant in Huskisson, more than 200km from Tangara School for Girls at Cherrybrook, on Saturday between 7.45pm and 10.30pm, ABC News reported quoting the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District.
There are growing concerns about school clusters, with 17 cases now linked to the girl’s school and authorities expect that number to increase.
Meanwhile, Wildginger informed its customers its doors would be closed for a fortnight due to the infected patrons dining there while potentially infectious.
“Please be advised that at this time, NONE of our staff have tested positive for COVID-19 and the incident was from patrons visiting from Sydney,” a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page read.
The NSW Department of Health is tracing anyone who was at Wildginger during the “at-risk hours”.
“We are devastated at the news of this and will be closed for the next two weeks whilst our affected staff are in mandatory, two-week quarantine,” Wildginger said.
Additionally, the NSW Department of Education said Parramatta Public School would be closed on Wednesday for cleaning after a student tested positive to COVID-19.
The school will work with NSW Health to establish close contacts while students learn from home.
The school is near Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta where two students tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week.
“We are in a pandemic – every organisation, every entity needs to abide by the COVID-safe plans,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Tuesday.
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“My anxiety has not subsided in relation to what a knife-edge NSW is on, but we need to keep pulling together and keep doing the right thing.”
Tangara school has closed its secondary campus until August 24 and its junior campus until at least Wednesday after the first COVID-19 case was confirmed last week.
The nearby Castle Towers shopping centre was also closed on Tuesday afternoon after NSW Health issued an alert asking anyone who visited the centre on Friday between 3.30pm and 5pm to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and get tested if symptoms develop.
Castle Towers said the centre had been closed for deep cleaning and it would be guided by NSW Health on how to manage this situation, a statement said.
Batemans Bay coronavirus cluster
Batemans Bay Public School and Bateman's Bay High school have re-opened after being closed earlier this week when students tested positive.
Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club in Sydney's west was also forced to close on Tuesday for deep cleaning due to a positive case of COVID-19.
The club is providing NSW Health with contact details of all employees and patrons who were on the premises between 5pm Friday and 1.30am Saturday so contact tracing process can begin.
But due to mandatory use of face masks at the club, NSW Health says the risk to patrons and employees is low, although they still need to monitor for symptoms until Friday.
On Tuesday, NSW recorded its highest daily increase of COVID-19 cases in almost four months, with 17 locally acquired cases.
Elsewhere, the Independent Education Union is urging the state government to mandate mask use for students and staff at senior schools to prevent further outbreaks in schools.
With AAP
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