Sydney is on high alert with 40,000 people potentially exposed to coronavirus after fragments were found in sewer readings.
Health authorities are asking residents in Sydney’s west to be ‘vigilant’ after the traces of covid-19 were found in the Homebush network.
‘People who have recently recovered from Covid-19 can continue to shed virus fragments into the sewerage system for several weeks even after they are no longer infectious,’ a NSW Health spokesperson said.
‘Nonetheless, NSW Health is asking everyone in the area to be vigilant in monitoring for symptoms, and if they appear get tested and isolate immediately until they receive a negative result.’
Sydney is on high alert with 40,000 people potentially exposed to coronavirus after fragments were found in sewer readings
Residents in western Sydney, including Sydney Olympic Park and surrounding suburbs, are being urged to monitor their symptoms after traces of the virus were found in sewers
The area, which is home to 40,500 Sydneysiders, spans suburbs including Homebush West, Strathfield, Silverwater, Concord and Rhodes.
The area also includes Sydney Olympic Park, home of ANZ Stadium which hosts large-scale rugby league matches every weekend.
New South Wales Health ‘stongly advise’ against non-essential travel to Victoria after the state’s latest outbreak, but are yet to close its borders.
Anyone who had been in the state after May 12 is being advised to closely monitor symptoms and immediately seek a test and isolate if their condition changes.
‘Twenty-eight close contacts in NSW who attended venues of concern in Victoria have returned negative results. These people will isolate for 14 days from their exposure date and will be tested again before the end of their isolation period,’ a spokesperson said.
‘NSW Health is grateful for those contacts who have contacted us so far,’ the spokesperson said.
The news comes after Victoria plunged into a seven day circuit-breaker lockdown after Melbourne’s outbreak grew to 30.
Victorian health officials and senior government ministers held crisis meetings on Wednesday night and announced a Stage Three seven-day lockdown on Thursday, beginning at midnight.
Health authorities are asking residents in Sydney’s west to be ‘vigilant’ after the traces of covid-19 were found in the Homebush network in areas around ANZ Stadium
From midnight on Thursday, people will only be able to leave home to shop for food and essential items, provide or receive care, exercise and to work or study if they can’t from home, and getting vaccinated.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said in excess of 10,000 primary and secondary contacts have been identified, and warned ‘any one of them’ could become cases over the next 14 days from their exposure.
‘We haven’t seen [a number that large] previously. There’s been opportunities to spread to people. It speaks to the infectiousness of this B161 variant,’ Prof Sutton said.
A near-deserted Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne on Friday. Victorians can only leave home for five reasons – to shop for food and essential items, provide or receive care, exercise, work or study if they can’t from home, and to get vaccinated
From midnight Thursday, people will only be able to leave home to shop for food and essential items, provide or receive care, exercise and to work or study if they can’t from home, and getting vaccinated
Health officials on Friday morning confirmed the four community cases along with two in hotel quarantine from a record 47,462 tests conducted over the past 24 hours.
The additional infections mean the number of active cases state-wide has risen to 39, while more than 15,000 primary and secondary contacts have now been identified across 121 exposure sites.
Another five sites including an inner-city pub and a suburban sports bar have been added to the list of locations at a high risk of being exposed to Covid-19.
The state’s testing commander Jeroen Weimar was meanwhile grilled during Friday’s press conference about Victoria’s delay in implementing a uniform sign-in method when other parts of Australia adopted one six months ago.
‘We have said over a number of weeks recently, we have been concerned at low levels of compliance, people not checking in with whatever system is being used,’ he responded.
‘We have a number of locations where we just don’t think we have captured all the people who were in those venues. It is important to get hold of them now.’
From Friday, all Victorian businesses will have to use the government’s QR code system after a compliance check in April revealed 37 per cent were non-compliant.
The state government is also facing criticism over the lengthy wait times for a Covid-19 vaccine in Victoria – as residents trying to book over the phone struggle to get past an automated message.