Fears Sydney's northern beaches cluster has reached city's west as devil in detail of the way NSW conducts its tests means outbreak could have a sting in its tail
An urgent health alert has been issued for a string of new venues across Sydney as the northern beaches cluster continues to seep out into the rest of the city.
Among the new venues exposed to coronavirus are the Paragon Hotel opposite the Circular Quay wharf, the popular Arthouse Hotel on Pitt Street in the CBD and the 24-hour BodyFit Gym in Blacktown in the western suburbs.
The virus has spread to venues across Sydney, with Kirribilli Hotel in Milsons Point and Macquarie Shopping Centre on the north shore also listed as hotspot locations.
NSW Health also revealed The Anglers Rest - a hotel in the small fishing town of Brooklyn north of Sydney on the way to the Central Coast - had also been visited by an infected person.
Anyone who visited the venues listed below should get tested immediately and isolate.
New venues on public health alert
Anyone who was at the following venues on the dates and times below is a close contact, and should get tested immediately and self-isolate for 14 days regardless of the result:
Cortex Gym – Strength and Conditioning Class, Alexandria, Tuesday, 15 December
Avalon Beach RSL Club, Friday, 11 December, Monday, 14 December, Tuesday, 15 December, Wednesday, 16 December (1pm-midnight) or Wednesday, 16 December (Opening time to 1pm)
United Cinemas, Avalon Beach, Tuesday, 15 December from 12pm-2.15pm
BodyFit Gym, Blacktown, Wednesday 16 December from 7am-8am, Thursday 17 December from 7am-8am, Friday 18 December from 7am-8am
Park House Hotel, Mona Vale, Wednesday, 16 December from 8.00pm-10pm
Pilates KX, Mona Vale, Monday, 14 December from 7pm-9pm
The Boatshed Cafe & Bar, Narrabeen, Monday, 14 December from 2pm-3pm
Sankaku Izakaya Newport, Thursday, 17 December from 2.30pm-3.30pm
Lovat Restaurant, Newport, Tuesday, 15 December from 6.30pm-8.30pm
London Hotel, Paddington, Thursday, 17 December from 8.15pm-9.30pm
Paragon Hotel, Sports Bar, Sydney, Wednesday, 16 December from 12.45pm-3.30pm. People who visited the Sports Bar for over an hour are close contacts, those who briefly visited should get tested immediately, and those who visited bar should monitor for symptoms.
Warriewood Headland Private Tennis Court (inside clubhouse and outside on courts), Monday, 14 December from 9.30am-12pm
United Cinemas Warriewood, Tuesday, 15 December from 12pm-2.30pm
Anyone who attended one of the following venues at the times specified is asked to immediately get tested and isolate until NSW Health provides further information:
The House Nail Salon, Avalon, Monday, 14 December from 10.30am-11.30am
Woolworths, Avalon, Tuesday, 15 December from 7.00pm-7.30pm
Rowland Reserve Dog Park, Bayview , Wednesday, 16 December from 4pm-5pm
Gordon USA Nails, Gordon, Thursday, 17 December from 12.30pm-1.30pm
Newport Lovat Restaurant, Friday, 11 December from 6.30pm-8.30pm
Newport Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Wednesday, 16 December from 5pm-6pm
Newport Shot Lab, Tuesday, 15 December from 11am-12pm
Macquarie Park Premier Academy League Under 8s Macquarie University Soccer Fields, Sunday, 13 December from 9am-11am
Palm Beach Pronto Creative Foods, Wednesday, 16 December from 7.30am-8.30am Thursday, 17 December from 7.30am-8.30am
Warriewood Square, Tuesday, 15 December from 3.30pm-4.30pm, Wednesday, 16 December from 11am-12.15pm Thursday, 17 December from 11am-3pm
Anyone who has attended any of the following venues should get tested immediately and isolate pending results:
The Anglers Rest, Brooklyn, Thursday 17 December from 5.30pm to 7.15pm
Paddington Alimentari, Thursday 17 December from 5.30am to 6pm, Friday 18 December from 5.30am to 6pm, Saturday 19 December from 5.30am to 6pm
Arthouse Hotel, Sydney, Thursday 17 December from 11.15am to 12.15pm
McDonald's Restaurant, Warriewood, Thursday 17 December from 11.15am to 12.15pm
Warriewood Square, Tuesday 8 December from 12.30pm to 2.15pm
A record 38,000 people across the state got tested on Sunday with results expected to come in between 24 and 72 hours later, meaning case numbers could rise on Tuesday and Wednesday
NSW recorded 15 more Covid cases on Monday - all of which are linked to the northern beaches cluster which now stands at 83
The virus has spread to venues across Sydney, with Kirribilli Hotel in Milsons Point and Macquarie Shopping Centre on the north shore also listed as hotspot locations
It comes amid fears the outbreak in Sydney's northern beaches could be far more dangerous than it appears due to the way cases and testing numbers are being reported by New South Wales Health.
NSW recorded 15 more Covid cases on Monday - all of which are linked to the northern beaches cluster which now stands at 83.
A record 38,000 people across the state got tested on Sunday with results expected to come in between 24 and 72 hours later, meaning case numbers could rise on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said some patients caught the virus outside the northern beaches but all cases have been linked back to two events at the Avalon RSL and the Avalon Bowlo last week.
In an update on Monday afternoon, state health authorities revealed five cases confirmed in a CBD workplace have been linked to the Avalon cluster.
In an update on Monday afternoon, state health authorities revealed five cases confirmed in a CBD workplace have been linked to the Avalon cluster
Anyone who visited Bunnings Belrose , Austlink Park Niangala Cl, Belrose on Thursday, December 17 between 4pm and 5pm is advised to get tested immediately and isolate
Anyone who visited Dan Murphy Mona Vale , 25-29 Park St, Mona Vale on Thursday, December 17 between 5pm and 6pm should isolate and get tested immediately
However, the five office workers who caught the virus from an infected person associated with the Avalon cluster at their office Christmas party are not from the area, nor have they been there - proving Covid has not been contained to the northern beaches.
Health officials proudly spruiked 38,000 tests being done in the past 24 hours at the same time the 15 new cases were revealed to the public.
However, these new cases came from testing undergone days earlier. Just 12,374 people were tested on Friday, and 28,210 on Saturday.
Results of the 38,000 tests won't be known until at least Tuesday.
Dr Chant said there has been seeding events where people have gone from being exposed in the Northern Beaches and travelled to other parts of the CBD, south-eastern Sydney, the broader northern Sydney area.
'We have seen transmission event in a workplace in the CBD - again linked by somebody who had unknowingly brought that into that workplace,' she told reporters on Monday.
The dozens of venues that have been put on an alert list indicate where positive patients are living, with most on the Northern Beaches, Dr Chant said.
She said five positive cases visited the Turramurra Salon for Hair on the north shore and urged anyone who went there between 15 and 18 December to test and self-isolate for 14 days.
Dr Chant also revealed that the UK's mutant strain of Covid-19 which is 75 per cent more contagious has been detected in two travellers in hotel quarantine - but has not been detected in the community.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was confident the cluster will be managed.
The possibly dire results of the record-breaking amount of tests won't be known until at least Tuesday, meaning Monday's relatively low case numbers could be a result of less tests being undertaken
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was pleased with the testing numbers but could not be sure all cases were being detected
'We have been here before. We have been able to overcome this before including in New South Wales.'
Mr Morrison said state and territory health experts and transport ministers were meeting but there was no need for a National Cabinet meeting of state leaders.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was pleased with the testing numbers but could not be sure all cases were being detected.
'In a pandemic, you're never confident you have 100 per cent got every strain of every case. I mean, that would be a dishonest way to answer the question.
'We are never confident you've caught everything, because when you don't know the intermediaries, when you don't know exactly every single person who was at a venue at a time because of record keeping, you can't give that assurance,' she said.