Covid 19 coronavirus: Sydney’s northern beach cluster grows by 15

New South Wales has registered 15 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, all of which are linked to the Avalon (North Beaches) group, bringing the total group-linked cases to 83.

It comes after the state registered 30 new cases of coronavirus yesterday, of which 28 were linked to the cluster.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian says more than 38,000 people showed up for the tests, a record number of tests for the state.

The Northern Beaches area of ​​Sydney closed at 5pm (local time) on Saturday and will remain closed until midnight on Wednesday. For residents in the area, it means that they can only leave their home for essential purposes such as work, compassionate reasons, to exercise or to go shopping.

Restrictions were also imposed on the Greater Sydney area yesterday, and indoor venues are now required to adhere to a four square meter per person rule, private events limited to 10 people, and all other events capped at 300 people.

Berejiklian said today’s drop in cases is nice, but that doesn’t mean the Christmas festivities will go as planned.

He said key decisions about family reunion rules will be made Wednesday morning, because authorities must wait until the last possible moment to make a decision.

“Obviously we have halved the number of cases overnight, but in a pandemic, there is a level of volatility, so we will be closely monitoring what is obviously happening until 8pm tonight and do a last call on Wednesday morning. ” she said.

“I appreciate how frustrating it is, and would love to be able to tell everyone today what Christmas will be like in New South Wales or on the North Beaches. But we are not yet in a position to do so.”

New South Wales authorities issued a health advisory last night for Sydney locations as the rush to get out of the city increases.

Sydney airport was packed with travelers overnight as people rushed to flee the city. All Australian states and territories have moved to restrict their borders to residents of New South Wales traveling from Greater Sydney.

New Zealand monitoring situation

The New Zealand government says it is closely monitoring the new Covid-19 cluster in Sydney, but it is too early to say whether it will affect a transtasman bubble.

“As previously stated, a travel bubble will not start until the first quarter of 2021,” a government spokesman said in a statement.

“The beginning depends on the fact that there are no significant changes in circumstances in either country.

“Decisions on whether or not to proceed with a travel bubble will come in the new year and we will assess the situation at that time.

“We are monitoring the situation closely, but it is too early to make decisions based on the current community cases in New South Wales.”

Professor Michael Baker says New Zealand is entering possibly the “most dangerous stage” since the August outbreak in Auckland and warns that the situation in Sydney “could be us”.

“The bottom line is that this should be a big wake-up call for us, that it could be us today or tomorrow. We need that continued caution here,” Baker said.

“It’s a pretty crazy line, but while we’re on vacation, the virus is not on vacation. The virus is behaving as usual.”

Baker said he wanted the government to implement a stoplight approach to arrivals so that people from higher-risk countries have stricter quarantine measures.

Ideally, you would like those deemed high risk to isolate themselves for about three days in a supervised hotel and return a negative test before even getting on the plane to travel to New Zealand.

Australian states and territories near New South Wales

The Sydney outbreak has prompted a rapid response from other Australian states and territories. An overview of each:

Victory

Prime Minister Daniel Andrews closed Victoria’s border with New South Wales at midnight (local time) last night.

“I must announce with the best public health advice that as of 11:59 pm tonight we will declare all of Greater Sydney and the Central Coast a red zone,” Andrews said.

Under Victoria’s traffic light system, travelers in a “red zone” cannot enter Victoria without 14 days in quarantine.

“If you are in Greater Sydney, stay in Greater Sydney,” Andrews said.

“We are going to protect what we have built and that is why the border will be closed from midnight tonight.”

The rest of Sydney is currently an ‘orange zone’ and those traveling from there should be tested and isolated until they can produce a negative result for Covid-19.

Western australia

Western Australian Prime Minister Mark McGowan announced a strict border with NSW on Saturday, which means that anyone entering WA from NSW must seek an exemption.

If they are successful in obtaining an exemption, they must self-isolate for 14 days and undergo a Covid-19 test once in Perth.

“I know change is going to be difficult for many people … It is not an easy decision to make,” McGowan said.

Before this week, visitors to WA from all states and territories except SA could arrive without having to apply for a waiver or quarantine.

Queensland

Queensland has failed to close its border with New South Wales, but authorities say they are “ready” to close the border if the prime minister makes the call.

All New South Wales travelers must now complete a border declaration when entering Queensland.

Anyone who has been to the Northern Beaches region on or after December 11 and is already in Queensland should be tested and self-quarantined at home or in accommodation up to 14 days after the date of departure.

Anyone arriving in Queensland from the Northern Beaches area after 1am on December 19 will need to self-quarantine and get tested.

Anyone on the NSW central coast or the greater Sydney area will be asked to take the test upon arrival in Queensland and to isolate themselves until a negative result is received.

South Australia

Anyone who has been to the greater Sydney area will be required to complete 14 days of quarantine upon arrival in South Australia, at home or at a hotel at their expense. There is a “hard border” against any of the Northern Beaches.

Health officials are contacting anyone who has come into the state from the Northern Beaches area in recent days, who they will direct to quarantine. Anyone who has come from other parts of NSW will have to undergo a test.

Tasmania

Tasmania has declared the entire Greater Sydney to be a “medium risk” area, meaning that travelers must be quarantined for 14 days at home or, if they can’t, in a hotel on their own.

Prime Minister Peter Gutwein said he “did not apologize” for announcing the additional restrictions.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory declared Sydney’s North Beaches a hotspot for the coronavirus and will require residents of the area to enter mandatory and supervised quarantine.

ACT

Canberra residents are advised not to travel to the North Beach region. People at ACT who have been there since December 11 should isolate themselves and get tested.

Additional reports from RNZ