New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian will meet on Wednesday morning with her “crisis Cabinet” to determine what restrictions will be in place for Christmas to contain Sydney’s coronavirus outbreak.
The meeting, scheduled to begin at 8am, will determine whether people in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the centre of the latest outbreak, will spend Christmas in lockdown or not.
It will also consider whether the limit on the number of household visitors for the Greater Sydney region should be lifted from 10 to 20 people.
“Clearly we are very much in the hands of ( NSW Chief Medical Officer) Dr Kerry Chant and the public health team,” Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
“And their assessment of the relative risk of moving away from what we know has already worked to bring down numbers.”
The announcement will apply for gatherings on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
On Tuesday, the outbreak grew by seven new cases, with an eighth local case believed to be transmitted from an overseas arrival.
There are now at least 90 cases linked to the Northern Beaches cluster, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday, as 44,446 people across the state came forward for testing in another record day.
The eight new cases, seven of which were linked to the Northern Beaches cluster, were recorded in the 24 hours to 8 pm on Monday night. The eighth case is a health care worker from western Sydney who was involved in the transfer of patients from the international airport to hotel quarantine.
That case remains under investigation, with genome sequencing underway to confirm the international origin of the infection.
“This case has transported several patients but we have identified that they also have transferred positive COVID cases,” Dr Chant said on Tuesday.
“We are obviously doing urgent genome sequencing to confirm that that is the source of their infection and those results will be available later today.”
A close workplace contact of the confirmed case also tested positive to the virus after the 8pm cut-off, with the infection to be included in Wednesday’s figures.
Shortly before the NSW update, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley revealed a 15-year-old Victorian had tested positive for the virus in quarantine after returning from visiting family in the Northern Beaches.
Due to the family isolating on arrival in Victoria, no exposure sites in the Victorian community had so far been identified, Mr Foley said.
Ms Berejiklian said a decision would be made on Wednesday, based on developments throughout the day, as to whether Sydney residents would be able to celebrate Christmas with their families.
“There’s no doubt that the trends are where we would like them to be,” she said. “The response from the community has been outstanding in terms of high testing rates, but the threat of the virus spreading is there because of the number of venues that have been impacted, even mildly.”
Meanwhile, gyms, restaurants, supermarkets, and pubs across Greater Sydney are among about 50 locations visited by people with COVID-19 recently added to the NSW Health’s alert list, as Ms Berejiklian urged all residents in NSW to remain vigilant for symptoms.
Among the new locations is Paddington Elementary Deli and Cafe after a staff member tested positive to the virus. All eat-in patrons who visited the restaurant between 17 and 19 December are considered close contacts and should immediately isolate and get tested.
People who attended Bodyfit Gym in Blacktown between 7am and 8am on the 16, 17 and 18 December are also being urged to self-isolate and get tested immediately.
A full list of health alerts for venues and public transport routes is being updated on the NSW Health website.
Dr Chant said “very many thousands and thousands” of people are currently in isolation as a result of potential contact with confirmed cases.
Northern Beaches residents are subject to lockdown conditions until midnight on Wednesday, meaning people are only able to leave their home to exercise, shop for essential goods, attend education or work, or for caregiving or health reasons.
Throughout the wider Sydney, Blue Mountains and Central Coast regions, new health orders have limited home gatherings to 10 guests.
Restrictions for indoor venues and places of worship have reverted to four-square-metre physical distancing requirement and indoor gatherings must be capped at 300 people. Dancing, singing, and chanting has also been limited to five people in places of worship.
The orders will remain in force until the end of the Northern Beaches lockdown period on Wednesday night.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your jurisdiction’s restrictions on gathering limits. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus.
Please check the relevant guidelines for your state or territory: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, ACT, Tasmania.
