NSW Covid: Double-digit cases as virus spreads 200km from Sydney
NSW has reported 89 new locally acquired coronavirus cases, a drop from the numbers recorded on Monday.
The state also announced another death, with a man in his 70s from Sydney's eastern suburbs dying of Covid on Monday.
Fourteen cases are under investigation and Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters there were 21 infectious in the community, a number she says needs to be driven down to zero.
“We can never rest easy until we get that [number] as close to zero as possible,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian added about three quarters of the new cases were close family contacts.
“It reinforces the message that every time you risk going outside and doing the wrong thing, you risk bringing the virus home to those you love the most and that is what the data is telling us,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian warned there were areas where a “smattering” of cases were appearing.
“We know how easy it is with the Delta cases where two cases become 20, become 100, very, very easily,” she said.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant added while there had been a focus on the Fairfield Local Government Area, it was critical other parts of Greater Sydney did not become complacent.
“The risk exists everywhere, and every time someone leaves your house, you have to assume that the person that you may be encountering at the shopping centre has got Covid,” she said.
Greater Sydney's lockdown was due to end on Friday, however Ms Berejiklian said it's "highly unlikely" as the number of locally acquired cases continues to increase.
She said she would make an announcement into whether it would be extended either today or Thursday at the latest.
Covid case found 200km from Sydney
The ABC reports the virus has spread from Sydney with a case found in Goulburn, 200km south of Sydney.
It is believed the positive case had been working in construction at the new Goulburn Hospital.
Dr Chant said from the beginning health authorities have been concerned about the risk of seeding from the Sydney outbreak in regional areas.
"We have put in protective measures in the regions," she said.
"That is why [there are] mask-wearing requirements in the regions, the reduced density, and the restrictions in the regions," she said.
"It is actually to ensure that if we get a seeding event, the risk of it being established in the regions is reduced.
"It does highlight why people cannot be complacent about the risk anywhere."
Dr Chant added anybody travelling to regional NSW for work are required to follow stay at home orders while they are there.
"You can't go to pubs, clubs, hospitality, anything else," she said.
"You can only go there and do your essential work and obviously get your essential food and groceries. The restrictions that apply to you is if you are living in Sydney, they apply to you when you are in the regions."
New rules for essential workers
Ms Berejiklian said the state was implementing new rules for those living in the Fairfield Local Government area, with people leaving the area for essential work required to get tested every three days.
"We are making sure that we make availability of that testing as easy as possible," she said.
People leaving the Greater Sydney area for essential work will be required to get tested every seven days.
Those essential workers who undergo the regular testing will not be required to isolate until they receive their result unless they have Covid symptoms.
"Surveillance testing is a concept that I think the community understands, we have talked about it in the context of [hotel] quarantine," Dr Chant said.
"Our workers undergo surveillance testing and they don't need to isolate. So our quarantine workers undergo daily saliva testing and when they're at work."
On Monday, NSW reported its first day in the triple digits since the latest outbreak, reporting a whopping 112 new cases.
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