Sydney’s restrictions are likely to be extended amid the city’s burgeoning number of Covid exposure sites, after several people became infected with the Indian Delta variant through momentary contact, Gladys Berejiklian has warned.
Mandatory mask rules were enforced for five days on Sunday as the number of cases swelled into double digits for the first time in months, peaking at 11 related to the Bondi cluster on Monday.
Major Sydney bus routes, busy CBD businesses and an entire office building have been added to the growing list of exposure sites, prompting the New South Wales premier to say it is likely the restrictions will be extended.
This is because several of the cases are believed to have caught the virus through ‘fleeting’ contact with an infected person in places including shopping centres and cafes, prompting health experts to fear it may have spread even further.
‘In all likelihood … the existing settings we have in place are likely to continue beyond the initial five days,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
A commuter is seen entering Wynyard Station (pictured) with mandatory mask restrictions now likely to be extended beyond Thursday
Passengers wear face masks inside a Sydney Train service at Wynyard station in Sydney CBD (pictured) with the city subject to a growing Covid exposure list
If the rules are extended, people in Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra will be forced to wear masks inside public spaces after Thursday, when they were initially supposed to expire.
The premier said that the transmission in Sydney’s Bondi cluster had been ‘fleeting’ and that people leaving their homes should assume anyone in close proximity to them has the virus.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant said authorities are at a ‘critical’ point in controlling the outbreak after a case of the virus spread between two people who passed each other for a moment at Bondi Junction.
Anyone who visited Bondi Junction shopping centre on June 12-13, even in the car park, has been urged to get a test.
Similarly fleeting contact is also understood to have caused an infection at a Vaucluse cafe.
Meanwhile, an extra 50,000 Pfizer vaccines will be delivered to NSW over the next three weeks to curtail the growing number of infections.
Ms Berejiklian promised to ask the Commonwealth to up its supply of jabs to NSW.
Women are seen in face masks on Sydney’s George Street, with exposure sites now spread across the city
Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) has warned the restrictions are likely to be extended – meaning mandatory face masks will remain
Covid-19 taskforce commander Lieutenant-General John Frewen said state leaders did not make any specific requests for more vaccines at Monday’s national cabinet meeting, despite reports that they were going to ask for more Pfizer doses.
He also said 98 per cent of Australians who are due for their second doses of Pfizer or Astra Zeneca have turned up for their appointments.
Health authorities fear those who attended the Fresh Nails salon at Westfield Bondi Junction on Friday June 18 from 9:30am – 7pm may have been exposed to the virus after it too was visited by a positive Covid case.
NSW Health announced on Monday night that anyone who attended the salon during the specified times is considered a close contact must immediately get tested and self isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
Late-night alerts were also issued for Chemist Warehouse, at 383 George St Sydney, on Tuesday June 15 from 1:45pm – 2:15pm, and at the ANZ Branch on the Corner of York and Market Street on Wednesday June 16 from 8:30am – 4:30pm.
An extra 50,000 Pfizer vaccines will be delivered to NSW over the next three weeks to curtail the growing number of infections (pictured, testing in Bondi)
A Chemist Warehouse at 383 George St in Sydney (pictured) has also been declared a Covid exposure site
Anyone who visited these venues must immediately get tested and self isolate until they receive a negative result.
Earlier on Monday state health authorities issued an alert for passengers who travelled on eight bus routes which travelled around the city’s CBD, northwest, and western suburbs.
A positive case travelled on the 6I4X bus route from Baulkham Hills to Sydney, from Gooden Drive to Stand J, Wynyard Station, at York Street, on June 15, between 8.40am – to 9.23am.
The person then returned to Baulkham Hills on the same bus route later that day, boarding from Clarence Street at 5.44pm and arriving at Gooden Drive at 6.29pm.
Anyone who travelled on the two 614X bus routes are considered close contacts and must immediately contact NSW Health, get tested, and isolate for 14 days, regardless of their result.
An ANZ bank on the corner of York and Market Street in Sydney (pictured) was also declared to be a Covid exposure site after being visited by an infected case
Anyone who travelled on the Northmead to Parramatta 600 bus route on the mornings of Wednesday June 9 and Thursday, June 10; the Parramatta to Winston Hills 600 bus on Thursday June 10 or Haymarket to Newtown 428 buses on Tuesday June 15 are considered casual contacts.
Anyone who travelled on the above bus routes must immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
Those who were at the Ashfield office block, 2-4 Holden Street, on Friday June 18 between 6pm–7.30pm, should monitor for symptoms and, if they appear, self-isolate until a negative result is received.
New South Wales recorded two new local cases of Covid-19 overnight, with another two cases to be included in Tuesday’s official figures.
A positive case travelled on the 6I4X bus route from Baulkham Hills to Sydney, from Gooden Drive to Stand J, Wynyard Station, at York Street, on June 15, between 8.40am – to 9.23am (pictured, unrelated commuters on a Sydney bus)
NSW health authorities issued an alert on Monday for passengers who travelled on eight bus routes which travelled around the city’s CBD, northwest, and western suburbs.
Two of the cases are a man in his 50s from Sutherland Shire and a woman in her 50s from Sydney’s south, with both being close contacts of a previously recorded case and already in isolation.
Another of the local cases is a woman in her 50s from Sydney’s northern suburbs who is a close contact of a previously reported case and in isolation.
The other is a man in his 30s – who is also self-isolating – from the eastern suburbs, and also a close contact of a known case.
Ms Berejiklian tightened restrictions in NSW last weekend when she enforced mask use on public transport and inside public spaces in Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
She said the ‘next few days are critical’ and urged residents ‘not to be complacent’.
‘If cases continue to emerge, we will need to go further,’ the Premier said.