Warning for 36 new Sydney suburbs after concerning Covid find

Residents in 36 Sydney suburbs have been warned to monitor for symptoms after authorities confirmed fragments of the virus that causes Covid-19 were found in two more sewage pumping stations.

NSW Health said on Tuesday the state’s ongoing sewage surveillance has identified two pumping stations in Camellia, in western Sydney, which have detected fragments of the virus.

The two pumping stations take in sewage from the suburb of Berala, where a new Covid cluster has emerged and the surrounding area.

Suburbs covered by the pumping stations:

• Auburn

• Bankstown

• Bass Hill

• Berala

• Camellia

• Chester Hill

• Chullora

• Clyde

• Condell Park

• Granville

• Guildford

• Guildford West

• Harris Park

• Holroyd

• Homebush West

• Lidcombe

• Mays Hill

• Merrylands

• Merrylands West

• Newington

• North Paramatta

• Old Guildford

• Parramatta

• Potts Hill

• Regents Park

• Rookwood

• Rosehill

• Rydalmere

• Sefton

• Silverwater

• South Granville

• South Wentworthville

• Strathfield

• Sydney Olympic Park

• Westmead

• Yagoona

Authorities urging people in at-risk suburbs to get tested

NSW Health authorities are urging people in those areas to monitor for Covid symptoms and get tested if any develop and isolate immediately.

On Monday, 63 suburbs in Sydney’s in the Liverpool and Campbelltown local government areas were put on alert after fragments of the virus were detected at two sewage treatment plants.

“NSW Health is concerned there could be other active cases in the local community in people who have not been tested and who might incorrectly assume their symptoms are just a cold,” NSW Health said regarding the matter on Monday.

Transmission may have occurred at Woolworths

On Tuesday, NSW reported four new locally acquired Covid cases, three directly linked to the Berala cluster, the other a household contact of someone who visited the BWS bottle shop, which is linked to 15 cases.

In the 24 hour reporting period, some 26,391 people across NSW came forward for testing, Acting Premier John Barilaro said it was a "nice number" but needed to be at 30,000 or 40,000.

Health authorities have struggled to directly contact the thousands of people affected by broad alerts for the BWS and Woolworths at Berala.

They have been forced to use credit card and rewards card data as QR codes are not mandatory in shops.

• Covid Victoria: New cases as list of exposed venues nears 100

• Hard lockdown as daunting graph shows 'rapid' spread of Covid

• 'Lack of respect': Influencer slammed for 2020 travel TikTok video

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant appealed to Berala residents to prompt family, friends and colleagues to be tested if they had visited the shops.

Health investigators are poring over CCTV from the shopping centre to establish whether transmission occurred in the Woolworths.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.