A childcare centre has been shut down after a toddler tested positive for coronavirus.
Goodstart Anna Bay on the New South Wales Central Coast is closed while it undergoes specialist cleaning, 9 News reported.
A child at nearby Tomaree School was also reportedly infected. It is not known if or how the cases are related.
Earlier on Wednesday, a staff member at a Sydney care home tested positive for coronavirus.
The employee at Ashfield Baptist Homes aged care in Sydney’s inner-west dined at the Thai Rock Restaurant in Wetherill Park, which has since been linked to 37 cases.
Pictured: A map showing coronavirus cases recorded since July 1. South-west Sydney has been hit the hardest, with 11 cases in the Liverpool local government area. The postcodes seen in the lightest shade of red have recorded one case in the past three weeks.
Pictured: Nurses dressed in personal protective equipment at a drive through testing clinic in Bondi
Other staff and residents at the facility are now in isolation and being tested for the deadly respiratory infection, New South Wales Health said in a statement.
‘The risk to other staff and residents is considered to be very low as the staff member wore masks, gloves and gowns when working with residents and did not work while symptomatic,’ the statement said.
Ashfield Baptist Homes has since been closed to the public pending test results.
It comes as Mary-Louise McLaws, an epidemiologist and World Health Organisation adviser, admitted the clock is ‘ticking’ on New South Wales authorities to get the virus under control.
‘It’s hard work,’ she said on the ABC on Wednesday.
‘And that’s why, I think, it could help to prevent the spread if everybody wore a mask in public until they get a handle on all of those potentially exposed people and put them in isolation.’
Prior to the outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel, which first began when a traveller from Melbourne dined at the venue, New South Wales was close to ‘eliminating’ the virus.
‘It had so few numbers outside those in quarantine at the hotel for returned travellers that we were doing very well. I believe that NSW can get back to that level but it will be a challenge, from a different perspective from Melbourne,’ she said.
There are 26 cases linked to the Thai Rock restaurant at Wetherill Park (pictured)
Pictured: A map shows Sydney’s coronavirus hotspot sites
Tourists wearing face masks take selfies in front of the Harbour Bridge in Sydney on July 22
Dr Stephen Parnis told A Current Affair the virus could easily spiral out of control in Australia.
‘It’s always the case that these things could spread,’ he said.
‘The concern is that NSW could now be where Melbourne was four, five, six weeks ago.’
On Tuesday, 16 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the state.
One of the cases was linked to hotel quarantine, three to the Crossroads Hotel in Casula and 11 associated with the Thai Rock restaurant in Wetherill Park.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her state was facing the most ‘critical time’ since the initial March lockdown.
She said it was reassuring there were no new outbreaks of coronavirus popping up across the state but was still concerned about community transmission.
‘The next few weeks are the most critical in NSW since the lockdown earlier in March and April,’ she said.
‘We are not out of the woods yet, quite the opposite … We have some level of anxiety regarding the extent of community transmission.’
Pictured: Nurses dressed in personal protective equipment at a drive through testing clinic in Bondi
The employee at Ashfield Baptist Homes aged care in Sydney’s inner-west dined at the Thai Rock Restaurant in Wetherill Park, which has since been linked to 37 cases
A stern warning has been issued against travelling to Sydney as the city’s coronavirus numbers continue to creep up.
Newcastle residents were told by local health authorities to rethink their travel plans.
Public Health Physician Professor David Durrheim said the Sydney outbreaks were ‘concerning’ and that non-residents should stay away.
There is usually a lot of travel between the two east coast cities, sitting just 170km apart.
‘We would strongly advise anybody from the Hunter New England region to rather stay at home than visiting Sydney at this stage unless absolutely necessary.
‘This virus, if you give it half a chance, can spread very very rapidly and even from the a-symptomatic,’ he said.
Newcastle residents were told by health authorities to rethink their travel plans after NSW recorded 16 new cases on Wednesday (pictured, the health alert)
A queue of cars is seen at a coronavirus testing clinic in Sydney’s Bondi on Wednesday (pictured) as non-residents are urged to stay away from the city
The 16 cases announced on Wednesday mark seven consecutive days of double-digit daily infections in NSW.
While not yet re-imposing travel bans to regional areas in NSW, Premier Gladys Berejikilan said people should take ‘extra caution’ when moving around the state.
‘There is no zone which is safe,’ she said.
‘My strongest message is, that all of us are on high alert.
‘All of us should be monitoring our behaviour. All of us should consider where we travel. All of us should consider avoiding crowds and those high-risk activities, especially over the weekend.’
The recent community transmission in the state has been traced back to Victoria, where figures have skyrocketed to a record-breaking 484 cases on Wednesday.
New figures showed 90 per cent of patients failed to isolate between falling sick and getting tested and 53 per cent had failed to self-isolate while waiting for the result.
The state has suffered outbreaks at abattoirs, aged care homes, logistics businesses and law firms.