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SYDNEY: Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, reported zero local coronavirus cases on Monday (January 4) for the first time in nearly three weeks as Sydney battled multiple outbreaks and authorities urged tens of thousands people to get tested.
New South Wales’ daily test numbers have dropped to around 20,000 in the past two days from a peak of around 70,000 recorded on Christmas Day, December 25. The vast majority of testing takes place in the state capital, Sydney.
“The numbers are too low … If we are to be successful in staying ahead of the COVID pandemic, testing is crucial in large quantities so that we can rely on data when we make decisions,” New South Wales Acting Prime Minister , John Barilaro, told reporters.
Authorities have imposed mandatory masks indoors and on public transport since Monday for Sydney’s 5 million residents or face a fine of AU $ 200 (US $ 154).
READ: Australia’s New South Wales under fire from slow COVID-19 response
New South Wales officials had rejected requests for mandatory face masks since the pandemic began and the policy change follows the latest Sydney outbreak, which appears to be highly infectious, and ahead of a cricket test match between Australia and India in the city scheduled to start. January 7th.
Australia’s Cricket Board on Monday further reduced crowd capacity for the test to 25 percent, around 10,000 spectators, from 50 percent, amid criticism from health officials, the event would become a virus super-spreader.
Australia and India are in the middle of a series of four tests, played against the background of strict health measures, with both sides traveling to Sydney for the third test starting Thursday.
Two cases involving the Sydney fresh produce group centered on a liquor store were recorded after the daily 2000 cutoff date local time. These will be added to Tuesday’s count.
Single-digit low cases from a cluster in the northern coastal suburbs in recent days suggest that a strict lockdown there since mid-December may have effectively eliminated the virus, but a KPMG report said the lockdown cost the New South Wales economy $ 3.20 billion (US $ 2.46 billion) in December.
READ: Australian states reimpose travel restrictions to prevent spread of COVID-19 outbreaks
New South Wales and Sydney, Australia’s largest city, have been cut off from the rest of Australia by state border closures or mandatory 14-day quarantine rules for interstate arrivals from New South Wales.
Neighboring Victoria state, which is also fighting new cases in the state capital Melbourne, reported three local cases on Monday bringing active cases in the state to 36.
Australia has largely avoided the large number of cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus compared to other developed countries, but recent clusters of COVID-19 in Sydney have sparked fears of a broader outbreak.
It has reported just under 28,500 COVID-19 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began.
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