Sydney’s coronavirus clusters are continuing to grow, with just one of the state’s new 12 cases coming from a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.
Of the new cases announced on Tuesday, three came from Victoria and another three were linked to the Sydney restaurant clusters.
One case has been linked to the Thai Rock restaurant in Wetherill Park and two cases are people who ate at the Apollo restaurant in Potts Point.
Two cases attended Mounties, Mount Pritchard, and three are linked to people who visited the RSL. Just one is a traveller in hotel quarantine.
The rise in cases comes as thousands of staff and students in Sydney were forced into isolation after three students also tested positive for COVID-19.
Testing has been ramped up in Sydney (pictured, in Rushcutters Bay on Sunday) after a series of clusters formed across the city
A nurse conducts a COVID-19 swab test as large crowds queue at a Bondi Beach drive-through testing clinic
Greenway Park Public School in Carnes Hill, west of Casula, was closed for deep cleaning on Tuesday after two students tested positive for the illness.
Bonnyrigg High School, in Sydney’s west, has also closed after a student returned a positive test.
NSW Education said the contact tracing process is underway for both schools, with before and after school care programs been cancelled.
Two of these cases were notified after the reporting period, and will be included in tomorrow’s numbers. All three are linked to cases who attended Mounties, Mount Pritchard.
The state has been recording steady daily increases in virus cases in the low double digits to reach a total of 3,809 cases on Tuesday.
The concerning new trend prompted Premier Gladys Berejiklian to backtrack on previous advice that masks were not necessary.
NSW residents are being recommended to wear face masks in public as coronavirus case numbers continue to rise. Pictured: a shopper wears a face mask in Woolworths in Sydney on Friday
Cleaning crews are seen entering Keilor Views Primary School in Melbourne in June before the city was forced into lockdown (pictured)
On Sunday, Ms Berejiklian said authorities would not make mask usage mandatory in NSW, but revised current recommendations to address four specific circumstances.
Masks should be worn by public-facing employees such as hospitality or grocery workers, worshippers and residents of suburbs near COVID-19 clusters, as well as in situations where social distancing is impossible.
‘We have been talking about masks for several weeks but obviously the persistent situation in Victoria gives us cause for alarm in terms of the potential for further seeding in NSW, and it is about risk mitigation strategy,’ Ms Berejiklian said.
‘We’re going to the next stage of assessing what else and how else we can decrease the risk and break the current chain coming through NSW.’
Ms Berejiklian said she will be heeding the advice of health authorities in her daily life, calling wearing a mask ‘the fourth line of defence’.
‘I want to stress it is not compulsory, but it is a strong recommendation from NSW Health, given where we are in the pandemic, given the risk posed from Victoria and given the rate of community transmission in New South Wales,’ she said.
‘I myself, when I next go grocery shopping, will be wearing a mask.’
In Victoria there have been 439 new cases recorded and a further 11 people in aged care facilities have died from COVID-19.
There are still 1,186 active cases of COVID-19 in aged care facilities across the state.
During the announcement on Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews discussed harsher penalties for people who break lockdown orders and health directives.
Authorities announced a Stage 4 lockdown on Sunday and a strict 8pm curfew was introduced in Melbourne to stem the spread of the deadly respiratory infection.
Wearing a face mask was also made mandatory in Victoria, and failure to comply is punishable with a $200 on-the-spot fine.
The Department of Health and Human Services conducted more than 3,000 door knocks of people who had been instructed to isolate at home, and in 800 of those cases, the person was not at home.
In response, Mr Andrews announced changes to the policy which means people instructed to stay at home are no longer permitted to leave for any reason – even for their daily exercise.
‘There will be no exercise if you are supposed to be isolating at home, fresh air at the front door or backyard, opening the window, that is what you’re going to have to do,’ he said.
Fines of up to $5,000 will be issued for anybody caught breaking those orders.