In an unprecedented late night update NSW Health has added a number of new exposure sites to its growing list mere hours after more than 30 other venues were flagged, with two medical centres, a Kmart store, Coles and Aldi coming under fire just before midnight.
Sydney’s southwest and western suburbs have made the list of new threats, with a KFC at Rockdale and Coles at Kareela worrying contact tracers late on Saturday evening.
Residents pointed out the timings – which include Friday July 2 from 5pm to 10pm and Tuesday July 6 from 5pm to 10pm at Coles supermarket – as well as Tuesday July 6 from 10am to 4pm and Wednesday July 7 from 10.30am to 4pm at KFC look to be the kind of hours a staff member would work, meaning the entire store would be considered a close contact.
Anyone who has visited either venue during those times has been ordered to immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days.
A number of other sites were included in an urgent alert at 5.30pm on Saturday bringing to total number released in just five hours to 46.
Residents who visited Direct Trade in Merrylands on Saturday July 3 between 2.20pm and 2.50pm, Freshness 4 Less in Fairfield the following day between 12 and 1pm, and Benedict Recycling in Chipping Norton on Monday July 5 from 10.50am to 12pm are also a close contact of a known case and will need to isolate for 14 days after getting tested.
After a record-high day of Covid cases, Sydney has been hit with a new list of exposure sites right across the city
A Bunnings Warehouse at Padstow was listed as an exposure site for Sunday July 4
Meanwhile a Barbecues Galore at Penrith was listed and anyone who visited on Tuesday July 6 between 3 to 3.15pm is considered a close contact
The same rules apply for residents who walked into a Barbecues Galore on Tuesday July 6 in Penrith from 3 to 3.15pm, the Butcher Shed in Moorebank Shopping Centre on the same day from 1pm until 1.15pm, Bupa Dental in Miranda on Wednesday July 7 from 10.50am to 12.10pm and Chemist Warehouse in Punchbowl on Thursday July 8 from 9.20am to 9.40am.
A further 22 venues were listed on the government’s Twitter page in suburbs including Coogee, Maroubra, Padstow, Sans Souci, Menai and Revesby, cementing the state’s worst fears – many of our favourite retailers have been affected right across the city and its surrounding suburbs.
One of Sydney’s most popular shopping centres was put on alert earlier in the day after a confirmed Covid-19 case visited several of its stores.
Locations around Sydney are baren and Liverpool is no different, as only one man was seen out on this street walking with a mask on
This Liverpool store owner said he had no customers all day, as people follow the lockdown conditions applied to Sydney by the NSW Government
A Liverpool market was also completely abandoned as Police launch a high visibility operation across south-west Sydney
Broadway Sydney revealed an infected shopper had visited the centre’s Kmart, JB Hi Fi, Coles, Aldi, Harvey Norman and Liquorland stores on Thursday, July 8 between 12pm to 2pm.
Anyone who visited the centre as a whole during those times has been urged to get tested if symptoms appear and isolate until a negative result.
‘NSW Health has advised that the customer was diligent in wearing a mask and checking in at all locations and we thank all of our customers who continue to do this to assist NSW Health in their contact tracing efforts,’ the centre said.
McDonald’s at Sans Souci was announced as an exposure site on Saturday evening after Sydney recorded 50 new Covid cases
Chemist Warehouse in Punchbowl, below an Anytime Fitness, is an exposure site on Thursday July 8
Broadway Sydney revealed an infected shopper had visited the centre’s Kmart, JB Hi Fi, Coles, ALDI, Harvey Norman and Liquorland stores on July 8 between 12pm to 2pm
Among the stores visited by the infected case include the Aldi at Broadway Sydney Shopping Centre
The infected shopper also stopped by the Jb Hi Fi store at Broadway on July 8
‘The Centre undergoes a full deep clean each night as part of our regular cleaning regime introduced at the onset of the pandemic to assist in protecting our community and will undertake additional measures following the confirmation of a contact.’
New South Wales recorded 50 new coronavirus cases on Saturday following three-consecutive days of record numbers as the premier warned ‘things are going to get worse before they get better’.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the new cases in a press conference in Sydney after introducing further restrictions on the current stay-at-home-orders on Friday.
She says ‘most concerningly’ there were 26 active cases in the community, saying too many residents were ‘cutting corners’ and ‘flouting the rules’.
‘That is the number we need to get down to as close to zero as possible,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
‘When you know that there are 26 cases infectious in the community, the only conclusion we can draw is that things are going to get worse before they get better.’
She also hinted that the Greater Sydney lockdown, which is entering its third week, is likely to be extended.
Sydney’s once bustling waterfront is now eerily quiet, as people follow NSW lockdown restrictions
Sydney’s Luna Park is closed, in accordance to NSW lockdown restrictions as Sydney are fighting to contain the delta variant of coronavirus
‘I think it is pretty clear that unless we reduce that level of people in the community that are infectious, we won’t be able to turn things around as quickly as we can or as quickly as we should,’ the premier said.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said there are 47 people in hospital being treated for the virus with 16 in intensive care including a teenager, a person in their 20s and person in their 30s.
Of the 47 in hospital, 37 were unvaccinated. No one that has been double vaccinated is currently in hospital.
Police issued more than 160 fines for breaching protocol in the last 24 hours, including eight people being busted for throwing a house party in Sydney’s east.
NEW: USE DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA’S TRACKER TO FIND THE LATEST EXPOSURE SITES NEAR YOU
Broadway’s Coles supermarket was also visited by the infected shopper on Thursday
New South Wales recorded 50 new coronavirus cases on Saturday after three-consecutive days of record numbers
Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the new cases in a press conference in Sydney after introducing further restrictions on the current stay-at-home-orders on Friday
Premier Berejiklian refused to be drawn into comments about extending the Greater Sydney lockdown but said she expects cases ‘to get worse before they get better’
Ms Berejiklian lamented people giving misleading or untruthful information when being contacted by NSW Health officials, pleading for Sydneysiders to be honest with their actions and exposure.
‘One message I really want to get across to people who have been diagnosed with COVID, please tell us the truth the first time around,’ she said.
‘When people withhold information, it means that their contacts are infectious – potentially infectious in the community. Eventually our health contact tracers get to the truth.
‘Please tell the truth from the first minute rather than after repeated conversations, because otherwise you put your closest family and friends at the greatest risk, and that is something we don’t want to see.’
A woman is seen walking through Fairfield on Saturday as cases surge in the south-west
NSW Police has warned Sydneysiders they’ll be on high alert over the coming days ensuring residents are following public health orders
There were 38 new cases announced Thursday and 44 Friday.
Saturday’s figure deepens the growing crisis with the highly-infectious Delta strain.
There are currently 47 people who have been hospitalised as a result of the virus, with Dr Chant urging people to take it seriously.
‘I’m making an impassioned plea for the community this weekend to follow the advice we’ve provided, and I think — diligently the advice we’ve provided and I think you will understand my growing level of concern that we need to bring these case numbers down,’ she said.
‘I think what we are seeing is chains of transmission and we are having difficulty getting ahead of those chains.’
She confirmed the teenager currently suffering from the virus in ICU is not on a ventilator.
Police confirmed 167 fines were handed out in the last 24 hours, including a party in Randwick in Sydney’s east involving eight men.
There was also a party in The Entrance on the Central Coast involving five adults and a minor.
Out of the fines, 67 came from Sydney’s south-west – an area being targeted extensively by police to attempt to slow the virus’ spread.
Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said police will continue their high-visibility movement in the suburbs despite claims of racism and double standards.
There were 72 people fined for failing to wear masks and 96 for leaving home without a reasonable excuse.
Ms Berejiklian lamented people giving misleading or untruthful information when being contacted by NSW Health officials, pleading for Sydneysiders to be honest with their actions and exposure
There were 38 new cases announced Thursday and 44 Friday, both the highest days recorded since the start of the pandemic
‘I think it is pretty clear that unless we reduce that level of people in the community that are infectious, we won’t be able to turn things around as quickly as we can or as quickly as we should,’ the premier said
Sydney’s weather is set to be a boost for officials in containing the virus spreading further as rain lashes the Harbour City
The announcement comes as five million Sydneysiders could be stuck in lockdown until at least August, a leading infectious disease expert has claimed.
Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said it would take ‘at least a month’ to get Covid numbers down and even longer to eliminate community transmission completely.
‘You expect cases, sadly, in family clusters, but the ones outside isolation are the ones that are telling you there’s a lot of circulating virus,’ she told Weekend Today.
‘My projections are that it’s going to take at least a month to get those down.’
Professor McLaws said it was concerning to see over half of the new Covid cases detected not having isolated.
‘At the moment that (proportion has) been very high, anywhere between a half of all people diagnosed to 60 per cent – and that has to get down to zero.’
Her grim warning comes as tensions mount in south-west Sydney, where 100 extra police officers have been sent to ensure compliance in worrying Covid hotspots.
Furious residents in the targeted local government areas – Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool – have questioned why Sydney’s eastern suburbs are not receiving the same police attention.
Under the tough new rules, which came into effect at 5pm on Friday, exercise is limited to groups of two, browsing is banned at shops and residents can still only leave their homes for one of the four essential reasons.
Mary-Louise McLaws, professor of epidemiology at UNSW, claimed it could be five weeks before community transmission of the Indian Delta variant of Covid 19 slows in Sydney
Sydney could be in lockdown until at least August, as tensions mount over extra police attention in the city’s Covid-hit west and south-west