Lockdown shoppers who visited a busy Woolworths where a staff member was unknowingly infected with Covid have been ordered to isolate.
The alert concerns Hillsdale Woolworths, 6km south-east of Sydney’s CBD, with hundreds of shoppers likely to have been plunged into 14-day isolation, regardless of any Covid test results.
Woolworths confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that an infected staff member worked in June 30 between 9.30am and 6.30pm, as well as on July 1 between 9am and 6pm.
Anyone who attended the Maroubra Coles on Monday, June 28 from 7:10am to 8:20am and also on Tuesday June 29 11pm to 11:45pm, is also considered a close contact, but none of its workers are infected.
The stores were among a list of new venues announced by NSW Health late on Sunday night, after the state recorded 16 new Covid cases.
The long list of venues and public transport routes flagged by NSW Health is spread right across the Harbour City from the Covid-ravaged eastern suburbs, to the inner west, outer west and the Lower North Shore.
Bondi’s cluster has shot up to 222 cases, with dozens of other mystery infections which have not yet been linked.
Anyone who visited Hillsdale Woolworths (pictured) on Wednesday June 30, between 9.30am to 6.30pm and on Thursday July 1, between 9am to 6pm, is a close contact of an infected worker – meaning hundreds of shoppers have likely been plunged into a fortnight of isolation
Walkers are seen out in Bondi on Sunday (pictured) with new exposure sites popping up across Sydney’s eastern suburbs
‘We’re making contact with our Hillsdale store team members and will provide our full support to those self-isolating in line with the advice from the NSW Health Department,’ Woolworths told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.
‘The safety and wellbeing of the local community is our priority, and as a food retailer, we have very high standards of cleaning and hygiene in place. The store has undergone an additional deep clean overnight.’
Other venues causing concern for state health officials includes Dan Murphy’s in Gladesville on Sydney’s Lower North Shore.
Anyone who visited the liquor store on Saturday June 26, from 3pm to 3.25pm is considered a casual contact and must immediately get tested and self isolate until they receive a negative result.
Dan Murphy’s at Gladesville, in Sydney’s Lower North Shore (pictured) has been listed as an exposure site
The alert concerns Hillsdale Woolworths, 6km south-east of Sydney’s CBD, with hundreds of shoppers likely to have been plunged into 14-day isolation, regardless of any Covid test results (pictured, a walker in Bondi during lockdown)
Several supermarkets, busy cafes, eight buses and ten Sydney train routes have been added to the city’s growing list of Covid exposure sites (pictured, police patrolling locked down Bondi Beach)
Diners who ate out at the popular Lot 19 Cafe in Rushcutters Bay, in Sydney’s inner east, are also considered close contacts if they attended on Tuesday, June 29 between 8.25am to 8.35am and on Thursday, July 1 between 8.25am to 8.35am.
Several public transport routes from Strathfield in Sydney’s west to Lakemba in the southwest were also flagged, along with stops at Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Sunday that 14 of the new cases were linked to previously confirmed infections.
Thirteen were already in isolation, one was in isolation for part of their infectious period and the remaining two were in the community while infectious.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured on Sunday) warned that even though numbers were trending in the right direction, just a handful of people ‘doing the wrong thing’ could derail it
The next few days in New South Wales are ‘critical’ according to officials, as the state continues to record new cases who have been infectious in the community (pictured, police speak to people in Bondi Beach)
Three residents at Summit Care’s aged care facility in Baulkham Hills, western Sydney, also tested positive to the virus in a worrying development but it was revealed the trio are showing little symptoms after being fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The results come after 45,079 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.
The figure is a positive sign that Sydney and surrounding regions are on track to ease out of lockdown on July 9.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned that even though numbers were trending in the right direction, just a handful of people ‘doing the wrong thing’ could derail it.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Sunday that 14 of the new cases were linked to previously confirmed infections (pictured, testing at Bondi Beach)
The Porch and Parlour cafe and ceramics shop in Bondi Beach is directly next door to one kerbside bar, Calita (pictured). The cafe is a listed Covid-19 exposure site
Sydneysiders have shown a more relaxed attitude to stay-at-home orders with crowds spotted gathering across the city enjoying the good weather.
Ms Berejiklian said she was pleased to see the cases ‘go the right way’.
‘But I do say cautiously that that could still bounce around,’ she said.
‘And we’ve seen in the last few days how easy it is for people to unintentionally do the wrong thing, or intentionally do the wrong thing, and that can result in more cases which is something we don’t want to see.’
Ms Berejiklian has also reminded residents to follow lockdown instructions.
‘So, we say to everybody, stay at home means stay at home,’ she said. ‘Only leave the house for exercise. Only leave the house when you absolutely have to. And please don’t go visiting each other, because that’s how the virus spreads.’