Australia’s coronavirus hotspots have been laid bare in alarming maps showing which areas have been worst affected by the pandemic, as the national infection count climbs to 2,806.
Waverley, which includes Bondi, Bronte and Queens Park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, leads all areas in New South Wales with 105 recorded cases of COVID-19.
Stonnington Council in Melbourne – which presides over lush inner-city suburbs including Toorak, Prahran and South Yarra – was the highest in Victoria with 57 infections.
Central Sydney, Woollahra, Waverley and the city’s northern beaches have been revealed as hotspots for the coronavirus in New South Wales. The virus has infected more than 1,200 people across the state
Sydney’s northern beaches is in the top five areas for infections in New South Wales with 68 recorded coronavirus cases
The Waverley count would include the ‘several’ backpackers who tested positive to the respiratory illness in the Bondi area between Friday and Sunday of last week.
Other clusters of cases in and around Australia’s two biggest cities are the Mornington Peninsula south-east of Melbourne with 36 infections and Sydney’s northern beaches with 68.
NSW’s Central Coast, Woollahra and central Sydney also feature in the top five most infected areas of the state.
Central Melbourne, Booroondara and Glen Eira in the city’s eastern suburbs sit in third, fourth and fifth place in Victoria.
Broader data of positive coronavirus cases in Sydney show 319 people in the city’s southeast have contracted COVID-19, while there are 247 cases in the city’s north.
Sydney’s west and south west have 98 and 88 cases respectively, while the Hunter New England region has 117.
Of the state’s cases, seven people have died and 16 are currently in intensive care.
Stonnington (in red) is Melbourne’s eastern suburbs is Victoria’s largest hotspot for the disease
Pictured Sorrento on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. The southern side of the peninsula has emerged as one of Australia’s coronavirus hotspots with 36 cases
A near-deserted Flinders Street train station in Melbourne is pictured on March 18
Some of the cases involving the Bondi backpackers came from two parties at the Boogie Wonderland at the Bucket List Bondi on March 15, and a party at Club 77 on the same date.
The new cases in tourists came a day after Scott Morrison was forced to close the iconic beach when thousands of sunseekers ignored social distancing measures.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant on Thursday morning said an additional 190 people had tested positive in NSW since 8pm on Wednesday.
Sydney’s south east has the most confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 319 people in the area catching the deadly virus
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian praised people for ‘stepping up and following the various decision we have had to take in the last few days regarding shutdowns’.
‘But I do also want to say to the community that if we don’t see things shifting in the numbers because of those actions, NSW will have to go further,’ she said.
‘NSW is different to the other states. If I feel the curve is not going the way we want it to, I will go further in NSW, there will be further shutdowns.’
Dr Chant said she was expecting the state’s number of infections to continue rising due to Australians returning from overseas.
‘We’ll be particularly looking at those cases where we don’t find any links to either overseas travel or known clusters or other confirmed cases,’ she said.
‘And that will give us an indication of the success of the strategies.’
Meanwhile three people in their 70s have died from COVID-19 in Victoria, as the state’s total number of confirmed cases has also risen to 520.
Another man in his 70s has died in Western Australia from the disease.
Their deaths comes after a 68-year-old cruise ship passenger died from COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Several backpackers based in Bondi, in Sydney’s east, tested positive to COVID-19 between Friday and Sunday. Pictured: thousands ignoring social distancing on Bondi Beach last Friday
Garry Kirstenfeldt was on board a Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas that docked in Sydney on March 18.
He died in Toowoomba Hospital in Queensland, where he was being treated in intensive care, on Wednesday afternoon.
Queensland Health confirmed the man’s death on Wednesday evening and said he had ‘serious underlying medical condition before contracting the virus.’
Ms Berejiklian said police will be ramping up their presence around Sydney’s ports as well as in regional and rural areas.
‘Nobody will be getting off a ship until further notice. I don’t want any action taken releasing passengers off boats in Sydney until all authorities have ticked it off,’ she said on Thursday morning.
‘We are telling people not to be overly concerned or panicked but just to know that the NSW government will go further if we have to because it is in the interests of public safety.’
Garry Kirstenfeldt, 68, died from COVID-19 on Wednesday. He was on board a Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas that docked in Sydney on March 18
Officers from Thursday will have the power to issue fines of $1000 to individuals and $5000 to businesses that breach public health orders or ministerial directions.
People in the firing line include returned travellers who contravene the requirement to self-quarantine for 14 days and those diagnosed with COVID-19 who similarly don’t follow the rules.
Federal border authorities have blamed NSW Health for the Ruby Princess cruise ship fiasco, where infected passengers were allowed into Sydney before test results were known.