Terrifying escalation in Sydney's covid crisis: How THOUSANDS of people have been exposed to the virus in 70 venues across the city - and new restrictions for all of NSW could be announced TODAY
There are fears thousands of Sydneysiders have been exposed to COVID-19 following an outbreak in the Northern Beaches, as the list of potentially infected locations soars to 70 across the city.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned on Saturday afternoon she could tighten coronavirus restrictions within 24 hours if the outbreak worsened as her state battles 41 community cases less than a week out from Christmas.
On Saturday night, the situation did get worse.
A NSW Health alert revealed positive COVID-19 cases travelled beyond the Northern Beaches and into the inner-city, inner west and western suburbs.
NSW Health's terrifying list of potentially infected locations has soared to 70. This map highlights Homebush, St Peters, Erskineville and Surry Hills among the newly identified
The popular Strawberry Hills Hotel in Surry Hills is one of 70 locations on alert across the city. Worryingly, a considerable number of new locations are outside of the Northern Beaches
The newly listed venues include Surry Hills, Forster, Narrabeen, Turramurra, Erskineville, St Peters, Mona Vale, Palm Beach, Raymond Terrace, Brookvale and Homebush.
Sydney's Northern Beaches - which is at the centre of the outbreak - was plunged into lockdown from 5pm on Saturday and will remain shut off from the rest of the city until at least midnight on Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to save Christmas.
Ms Berejiklian asked the rest of the Harbour City to stay at home and avoid non-essential activity.
Sydneysiders appeared to follow the premier's request by bunkering down at home, with the CBD turning into a ghost town on Saturday night.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state government could extend the lockdown to other parts of Sydney as early as Sunday
An empty George Street in the Sydney CBD as residents of Greater Sydney are asked to consider staying at home on Saturday following a coronavirus outbreak
'Hundreds' exposed at Anytime Fitness
Anytime Fitness Avalon is closed until further notice and is undergoing cleaning.
Contact tracing and investigations are underway. The large time exposure range of this case means there are potential contacts numbering in the hundreds. NSW Health is working with the gym management to identify those people who attended the gym at the same time as the confirmed case.
Close contacts of this case are being contacted however NSW Health’s advice is that anyone who was at the gym at any time on these days must immediately get tested.
SOURCE: NSW Health
Ms Berejiklian warned the rest of Sydney could be subject to lockdown from as early as Sunday.
'We will be considering today after consulting obviously the relevant people, whether this time tomorrow we do revert back to some restrictions in greater Sydney, but we are still considering that,' she said on Saturday.
'I just want to put everybody on notice that that is a possibility and that will depend on the help advise sent to us during the course of the day.'
A total of 70 venues across NSW have been put on alert from Wednesday to Saturday night - with a worrying number outside of the Northern Beaches.
In the inner-city of Surry Hills, three venues have been visited by residents infected with COVID-19.
Anyone who visited Strawberry Hills Hotel from 3.30pm to 6pm on December 16 is considered a close contact and should be tested immediately and self-isolate until December 30.
Anyone who attended Nomad Restaurant from 6pm to 7.45pm on December 16 is also a close contact and should follow the same directions as those who attended the popular watering hole.
People who attended the café Cuckoo Callay in Surry Hills from 11am to 12pm are considered casual contacts and advised to get tested and self-isolate.
Anyone who attended Nomad Restaurant from 6pm to 7.45pm on December 16 is considered a close contact and should be tested immediately and self-isolate until December 30
Northern Beaches locals are seen waiting in long lines for Covid-19 tests at the Brookvale Centre on Saturday
Other close contact locations include the Avalon RSL, Avalon Bowlo, The Sands in Narrabeen, Salon for Hair in Turramurra and Rose of Australia in Erskineville.
Those who attended the beginners class at Sydney Trapeze School in St Peters, the inner west, from 10am to 12pm are also considered close contacts and should be tested and isolate.
On the NSW Central Coast, anyone who dined in the outdoor verandah area of Café Toscano in Forster from 6pm to 7.45pm on December 16 is also considered a close contact.
Meanwhile, Beach Bums Café in Forster has been identified as a 'casual contact' location from 8am to 9am on December 16 and 17 - with advice to get tested and isolate.
Those who attended the café Cuckoo Callay in Surry Hills from 11am to 12pm are considered casual contacts and advised to get tested and self-isolate.
Shoppers wear face masks as they buy groceries at Woolworths in Avalon on Saturday
The Victorian Government now considers the NSW Central Coast an 'orange zone' like the greater Sydney, apart from the Northern Beaches, which is considered a 'red hotspot'.
Those on the Central Coast and in greater Sydney can still enter Victoria but need to apply for a permit.
The rest of NSW is considered a 'green zone' and can visit Victoria but also need to apply for a permit online to gain access.
Fears that the disease has spread to the NSW Central Coast are also growing as anyone who dined in the outdoor verandah area of Café Toscano in Forster from 6pm to 7:45pm on December 16 is also considered a close contact
Meanwhile, Beach Bums Café in Forster is considered a casual contact location from 8am to 9am on December 16 and 17 - with advice to get tested and isolate
Other close contact locations include the Avalon RSL, Avalon Bowlo, The Sands in Narrabeen, Salon for Hair in Turramurra and Rose of Australia in Erskineville
Back in Sydney, one coronavirus case also travelled extensively on the T1 North Shore Line from Artarmon to Wynyard on Monday morning and back that night before making the same trip on Tuesday.
The T3 Bankstown Line from St James to Erskineville on Tuesday night and from Erskineville to Central on Wednesday morning are also affected.
New casual contact locations include Miter 10 Mona Vale, McDonald's Raymond Terrace, Warringah Mall, High Tek Aquarium in Brookvale and Harris Farm Warehouse in Homebush.
Back on the Northern Beaches, NSW Health are advising anyone who dined at Oceana Traders – Seafood Merchants at Avalon Beach from Monday December 14 to Thursday December 17 to get tested immediately.
The diners are close contacts and must self-isolate for 14 days.
Passengers on a train from Milsons Point on Saturday. One case travelled extensively on the T1 North Shore Line between Artarmon and Wynyard while another travelled on the T3 Bankstown line from St James to Erskineville and Erskineville to Central
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS FOR NSW RESIDENTS
While the Northern Beaches Council area is locked down, Ms Berejiklian is relying on the 'good faith' of other Sydneysiders to avoid nonessential travel.
'So can I say to everybody in other parts of Sydney outside the Northern Beaches, please limit your activity. We are asking you to do this in good faith,' she said.
'We are asking you not to undertake nonessential travel, or nonessential activity.
'We want people to stay at home tonight and the next few nights so that we can ensure the virus does not spread, if there are any fragments of the virus outside of the Northern Beaches, and we also want to make sure that we give all of Sydney the best chance we have two having a good Christmas.'
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan reintroduced the hard border with NSW at 12am on Sunday, meaning all arrivals will be 'turned away' from then.
He slammed the NSW Government's response to the pandemic on Saturday night, accusing them of playing 'whack-a-mole' with COVID-19 cases.
'I just say to New South Wales, they need to get it under control,' he said.
'I don't blame them for what's happened, I'm not going to point the finger, I'm just saying to them they need to get it under control.'
Mr McGowan said the growing cluster is 'causing grief all over Australia' and the state government 'needs to kill the virus in Sydney, in New South Wales'.
'They seem to be engaging in a sort of form of whack-a-mole, they try and step on a gym here or a restaurant there,' he said.
'Rather than playing whack-a-mole, they need to kill all the moles.'
A man receives a COVID-19 test at a drive through testing station at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Saturday. NSW currently has 41 active cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday, most of which are located to a cluster in Sydney's Northern Beaches
Pictured: Cars drive past a COVID-19 alert sign on Mona Vale road at Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches, Saturday, December 19, 2020
Mr McGowan said the hard border between WA and NSW will remain in place indefinitely.
'Right now, I don't know how long the hard border with NSW will be up for,' he said.
'We hope it's only for a short period – and we can reassess our border controls when the health advice says it is safe to do so.
'Our community has been COVID-free for 252 days now. I want to keep it that way.'
NSW currently has 41 active cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday, most of which are located to a cluster in Sydney's Northern Beaches.
Of the 38 cases in the Avalon cluster, 15 cases are linked to the Avalon RSL, 23 cases are linked to the Avalon Bowling Club, and several cases attended both venues.
Another two new locally acquired cases in the Northern Beaches are still under investigation while one was a NSW resident was diagnosed in Queensland.
WA is the first state to impose a hard border on NSW amid the current outbreak.
An empty station entrance at Milsons Point train station on Saturday, with just station staff seen tending to their duties
couple wearing face masks on an escalator in an almost-deserted Wynyard station
Some people wear face masks and some not at Town Hall in the Sydney CBD. While the Northern Beaches Council area is locked down, Ms Berejiklian is relying on the 'good faith' of other Sydneysiders to avoid nonessential travel
Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT have all banned anyone who visited the Northern Beaches from December 11 from entering their state or territory.
Like WA, the Victorian government is also reportedly considering a hard border with NSW but has not formally commented on the matter yet.
Queensland has banned all NSW residents who have visited the Sydney's Northern Beaches since December 11 from entering the state.
Only Queensland residents who visited the Northern Beaches can enter and will have to quarantine for 14 days upon entry.
Cutting short her beach holiday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stressed on Friday that Queensland's borders would remain open to other travellers.
People are seen waiting in long lines for Covid-19 tests at the Brookvale Centre on Saturday
Healthworkers scramble to conduct coronavirus tests following an outbreak on Sydney's Northern Beaches
'I just want to give people that sense of security, in terms of we are following practices that other states and territories are also at this stage,' she told reporters.
'So I just want to alleviate people's concerns there.'
From midnight on Saturday, everyone who enters Tasmania from the Greater Sydney area will be required to isolate for 14 days.
As a result of the outbreak, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has been cancelled for the first time in 76 years.
The event organisers on Saturday night announced it was with 'great sadness' the 76th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race would not go ahead in 2020.
They said the coronavirus pandemic has distrupted sporting events across the world throughout the year and the 'Great Race' is another victim of the health crisis.
NSW public health alert - urgent call for testing (December 19)
Anyone who attended the following locations is considered a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result:
Close and casual contacts, who must get tested and isolate until December 30:
People who visited the following venues at the below times should get tested immediately and self-isolate until NSW Health provides further information:
People who have visited the following locations are casual contacts, and should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result:
Confirmed cases travelled on the following transport services. Other passengers are considered to be casual contacts, and should get tested and isolate until a negative result is received.
People queue up in their cars to be tested at a drive-thru Covid-19 testing facility at Avalon