- New testing has revealed the hotel quarantine worker who contracted COVID-19 in NSW likely picked up the virus from a U.S. air hostess
- Genome tests have revealed the woman at the heart of NSW’s latest coronavirus outbreak likely contracted COVID-19 from quarantined cabin crew
- The locally acquired case has prompted mass testing to be carried out in Sydney and for interstate border closures to be reviewed
- Queensland’s Premier has stated the border between the two states will remain open unless more cases emerge
- The WA Government has taken a slightly different approach, asking for additional time before making a decision on reopening its border to NSW
New information has come to light explaining the possible origins of a sole COVID-19 case, which has sent NSW and the rest of Australia into a tailspin.
A hotel quarantine worker tested positive for the virus earlier this week, prompting mass testing throughout Sydney to identify whether anyone else had been infected.
So far, none of the tests have returned positive results, but genome testing has revealed the female worker at the heart of the outbreak likely contracted COVID-19 from international flight crews.
The particular strain of her virus has been detected as being from the U.S., meaning she likely picked it up from cabin crew who were quarantining in the hotels she worked at as a cleaner.
“We still have work to determine which aircrew or person from overseas, possibly in the hotel, managed to transmit it… but definitely not a locally transmitted virus,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
To 8pm last night ,NSW had 26 days clear of Covid19. But after cut off time, late in the night, there is one new +ve case of a domestic worker from police managed Hotel (Novotel/Darling Harbour). Genomic Sequencing done to help find source. To be expected in pandemic. @NSWHealth
— Brad Hazzard (@BradHazzard) December 3, 2020
This latest lone case of COVID-19 has caused a number of State Leaders to reconsider their border restrictions with NSW.
Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk has stated she will keep the borders open at this stage, as it’s only one case so far.
“I don’t think we should be too concerned at this stage. Our chief health officers are speaking regularly, and they’re very happy with the contact tracing that is happening at the moment,” the Premier explained.
“We are watching it carefully to see if it turns into a cluster outbreak. At the moment, no need for any concern from anyone,” she added.
In WA, the situation is slightly different, with Premier Mark McGowan asking for extra time to make a decision on whether or not the state should delay its planned opening with NSW and Victoria.
“Obviously there’s testing still to be done. The woman in question, the cleaner, spent a lot of time on trains and trams between western Sydney and her workplace and by all accounts was a very gregarious person,” Mark said.
“My expectation is now that we will make a final decision on NSW on Monday so that we take every precaution possible,” he added.
WA had planned to open fully to both the east coast states on Tuesday after nine months of closures, while Queensland only opened in full to NSW earlier this week.