Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- NSW Acting Premier John Barilaro has warned a second lockdown may be enacted in Sydney after another cluster emerged
- Two workers from a bottle shop in Sydney’s west have tested positive for the virus, however, the infections weren’t counted in today’s total
- Instead, the state declared no new cases of COVID-19 had been recorded in the state in the past 24 hours
- A total of 22,275 tests were conducted across Sydney on Sunday, well below the goal of 30,000 tests per day
- Melbourne also recorded three new cases of COVID-19, all of which were locally acquired and linked to Sydney’s own outbreak
Sydneysiders could soon find themselves in lockdown once again as a new cluster of COVID-19 cases emerges in Sydney’s west.
Two workers from a BWS bottle shop in Berala have tested positive for the virus, however, the infections weren’t counted in today’s numbers.
Instead, NSW authorities will include the cases in Tuesday’s total after declaring that no new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the state in the past 24 hours.
There were 22,275 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 18,923. NSW Health urges people – especially those in western, south-western Sydney and Wollongong – to continue to come forward with even the mildest of symptoms.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) January 4, 2021
It’s believed the workers served thousands of customers over a period of 10 days before testing positive for the virus and going into isolation.
Contact tracers are working to identify anyone who may have attended the store during that period to ask them to get tested and isolate.
NSW Acting Premier John Barilaro said considering the sheer number of people who may have come in contact with the duo, a lockdown may be necessary.
“If you look from December 22 to 26, they could be big numbers, and we will always consider what we can do in relation to a lockdown, further restrictions, especially where there is a hot spot,” he said in an interview with Nine.
“One of the things we said when we were lifting restrictions was that if we had to respond, it would be fast and it would be hard and local, just like we have done for the peninsular,” he added.
At this stage the Acting Premier said there wasn’t enough data to warrant a full-scale lockdown in Sydney’s west, however that may change in the coming days.
John Barilaro is calling for more people to come forward and get tested, with testing numbers on Sunday only totalling 22,275 — well down on the goal of 30,000 daily tests.
“The numbers are far too low. We’re urging those test numbers to well exceed the 30,000,” he said.
“My message today is, again, if we’re going to succeed in staying ahead of the COVID pandemic, testing is crucial in large numbers so we can be confident of the data when we’re making decisions as we progress going forward,” he added.
In Melbourne, three new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the past 24 hours with all of the new infections linked to the Black Rock cluster.
The cluster has proven to be linked to the original Greater Western Sydney outbreak last month, according to genomic testing.
As a result of the growing outbreak linked to Sydney, Victoria closed its border to NSW on January 1.
Victorian Acting Premier Jacinta Allen said the border closure will remain in place for now, despite the ‘zero’ cases recorded in NSW.
“That decision on borders, and indeed all other restrictions like the wearing of masks and that the limits on numbers of people in family homes will be guided by the public health advice,” she said.
