Massive coronavirus bungle in a popular tourist town as government officials render COVID-19 sewage samples useless by freezing them instead of refrigerating them - as the resident who exposed the debacle calls the mistake an 'epic mess'

Government officials collecting sewage samples from a trendy tourist hotspot to test for hidden cases of COVID-19 have mistakenly frozen the batch and rendered it completelty useless.     

Specimens from Byron Bay sewage plants were sent to NSW Health to undergo testing to determine whether there were any undetected coronavirus cases in the shire. 

But when they arrived at the lab, scientists discovered the samples were unusable after council workers had placed them in a freezer rather than a refrigerator.  

Byron Bay has been left without COVID-19 sewage test results after government officials mistakenly froze  samples rendering them useless. The bungle comes as holidaymakers flock to the tourist hotspot to make the most of the summer holidays

The debacle has left the shire without sewage testing results for about a month, North Coast Public Health director Paul Corben confirmed to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

The blunder comes as a New South Wales remains on high alert amid a surge of new coronavirus cases stemming from a cluster in Sydney's Northern Beaches. 

Earlier this month, other states and territories rushed to effectively ban Greater Sydney residents from crossing their borders in response to the outbreak, which is now linked to 144 cases.   

As authorities scramble to stem the spread, Byron Bay, like many popular coastal towns across New South Wales, is bustling with holidaymakers embracing the festive season.

Local Nicqui Yazdi, a representative at the Local Drug Action Team and Byron Underage Drinking and Drug Initiative, exposed the bungle over Facebook on Thursday, describing the error as an 'epic mess'.

'I sent out a number of emails yesterday and called around trying to clarify the lack of current reports for more than a month now on sewage testing at the two Byron plants on the official NSW Health Covid Surveillance site,' she wrote.

'I received an email response last night from Wayne Jones, the chief executive of the Northern NSW Local Health District.'

'Wayne confirmed what I had suspected, that yes, indeed there has been a massive stuff up, and NO covid tests have been conducted on samples from either of the Byron Shire sewage plants, because they froze the samples instead of refrigerating them, therefore rendering the samples useless,' she said. 

Council workers who collected samples accidentally froze the samples instead of placing them in the refrigerator

'I am literally gobsmacked that this could have happened! And at the annual highest traffic volume time for Byron for tourism!' 

The council has not responded to phone or email enquiries.

Mr Corben said there were no available results from the two Byron Shire testing locations since the week ending December 5.

He said there were many logistical challenges transporting samples from regional NSW to Sydney. 

'An operational error at collection led to recent samples being frozen rather than refrigerated, and therefore not able to be analysed on receipt by NSW Health,' he said.

'North Coast Public Health Unit has issued clarifying guidance to council on the correct handling of specimens to avoid further problems with sample testing.

'Byron Shire Council has advised a sample was collected yesterday and will be tested after reaching the laboratory in Sydney.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Byron Shire Council and NSW Health for comment. 

The error was discovered after the samples were sent to a NSW Health lab for testing 

NSW reported 10 cases of community transmission of coronavirus on Thursday as the inner west cluster grows from a mystery source.

Of those five were linked to Sydney's northern beaches cluster, after almost 28,000 tests conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday.

The so-called Avalon cluster, which erupted earlier this month, now totals 144.

Three of the 10 COVID-19 cases are linked to the Croydon cluster in Sydney's inner west, and the source of this infection is still under investigation.

A total of nine people are now associated with this hot spot after six infected persons from the same extended family were detected on Wednesday.

Of the two other cases reported on Thursday, one is a close contact of a previously reported infected patient transport driver and the other is from western Sydney and the source is under investigation.

Northern Beaches locals line up to be tested at a pop-up Covid-19 testing facility in Avalon on December 18

Authorities are also still investigating two COVID-19 cases involving a pair of women from the same household in Wollongong, on the NSW south coast.

Hundreds of people have been tested for the virus in the city and the government expects to have a clearer picture of any spread in the next 24 to 48 hours.

But Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was pleased to the number of cases fall to 10 from 18 the day before.

'So pleasingly, we have seen the numbers go down today but it's very volatile,' Ms Berejiklian said.

'They're going to bounce around.

'What is really important is for all of us to do everything we can to reduce our mobility, to reduce the number of people that we're mixing with and to make sure that we stick to the rules and the health advice.'