An outbreak of coronavirus on Sydney s Northern Beaches was identified last Wednesday and has grown
The area was plunged into lockdown on Saturday with only critical workers allowed to leave the hotspot
Northern Beaches residents will be released from lockdown Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Greater Sydney residents will be allowed to invite 10 adults plus children under 12 on those three days
NSW recorded just eight new local cases of Covid-19, taking cluster which emerged seven days ago to 97
The NSW Government will make "modest changes" to coronavirus restrictions across Greater Sydney, but most lockdown orders will remain for the northern beaches over Christmas.
Over 100 venues named in Sydney as potential COVID-19 hotspots ANI | Updated: Dec 22, 2020 08:42 IST
Sydney [Australia], December 22 (ANI/Xinhua): Officials in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have named over 100 venues across Sydney as potential COVID-19 hotspots, instructing anyone who attended them to self-isolate and get tested.
NSW recorded eight locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking a recent outbreak to 90 infections.
Seven of the new cases were linked to Sydney s Northern Beaches where the outbreak originated and one remained under investigation.
Health alerts were issued for gyms, bars and cafes, primarily inside the original outbreak area, but also across Greater Sydney.
Testing is underway to figure out where exactly the healthcare worker who tested positive contracted the virus. This case has transported several patients but we have identified that they also have transferred positive COVID cases, Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said. We are obviously doing urgent genome sequencing to confirm that that is the source of their infection and those results will be available later today.
A close contact of the worker also tested positive to the virus last night, Dr Chant said. A close workplace contact of this healthcare worker has come back positive since the 8pm figures and that will be included in the count for tomorrow.
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New South Wales has recorded similar coronavirus case numbers to Tuesday s eight with no major spike in infections.
Northern Beaches residents are set to have a more restricted Christmas than the rest of the city, with Gladys Berejiklian to announce the rules at 11am.
On Wednesday morning the premier was in a three-hour crisis meeting with health bosses and police chiefs to discuss which restrictions to impose on five million residents of Australia s biggest city.
NSW Police Minster David Elliot earlier told Sunrise that it s highly possible the Northern Beaches, which has been in lockdown since Saturday, would still have different rules to the rest of Sydney.