Sydney coronavirus outbreak looking 'quite positive' with even fewer new cases expected to be announced today
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said he feels 'quite positive' about Sydney's latest COVID-19 figures, which are set to be made public at 11am on Tuesday.
'I think I'm feeling quite positive about those figures today but we'll leave that until eleven o'clock,' Mr Hazzard said on ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning.
NSW recorded 15 more Covid cases on Monday - all of which are linked to the northern beaches cluster which now stands at 83.
Mr Hazzard said he was 'presently surprised' about Monday's low figures but stressed it was down to NSW Health 'doing everything we can'.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he feels 'quite positive' about Sydney's latest COVID-19 figures, which are set to be made public at 11am on Tuesday
People wait in a line at a COVID-19 testing station on the northern beaches in Sydney on Monday. Some have reported waiting upwards of six hours to be tested, only to be turned away at closing time
People in Sydney's Northern Beaches have reported waiting upwards of six hours for COVID-19 tests - only to be turned away at closing time.
When asked about the hours-long wait, Mr Hazzard said NSW Health had done a lot of work on increasing testing sites and staff.
'In the northern beaches, it's gone from six sites to more than 13,' he said.
'We're looking at all sorts of initiatives, particularly older people, to not stay in the queues.
'But you have to understand that there's only limited capacity in the number of staff who can do these sites.'
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, 28 on Sunday, 21 on Saturday, 15 on Friday, three on Thursday and an initial outbreak of one on 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.
Motorists queued up at the Bondi Beach testing clinic on Monday. When asked about the hours-long wait, Mr Hazzard said NSW Health had done a lot of work on increasing testing sites and staff
Masked travellers escape Sydney at the domestic airport on Monday. NSW recorded 15 more Covid cases on Monday - all of which are linked to the northern beaches cluster which now stands at 83
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.
Queensland Police question a motorist at a border checkpoint in Coolangatta, on the state border with NSW, on Tuesday morning
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.
'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.
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