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SYDNEY (REUTERS) – Australia’s most populous state reported on Monday (Dec. 21) its smallest one-day increase in new Covid-19 cases in three days, fueling cautious optimism that authorities have contained an outbreak. in the northern coastal suburbs of Sydney.
New South Wales (NSW) said 15 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, fewer than the 36 infections detected a day earlier and bringing the total number of cases in the northern beaches outbreak to 83.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Brejiklian said it was too early to say a larger outbreak had been averted as the northeastern suburbs entered the third day of a five-day lockdown before Christmas.
“I am satisfied with what we have seen overnight, but again it is volatile,” Ms Brejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
The government will provide an update on Wednesday on “what Christmas and the next few days will be like” in terms of new containment measures beyond those already imposed in the northeast suburbs, he added.
However, other states and territories have moved quickly to close the borders to Sydney’s 5 million residents, which has ruined Christmas travel plans.
“2020 is not over with us yet,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra. “The events of the past few days, I have no doubt, are incredibly frustrating and disappointing for people across the country who had plans to meet and move between states.”
New South Wales imposed a shutdown Friday on Sydney’s North Beach area, home to more than 250,000 people, after the cluster of cases emerged, focusing on two dining and entertainment venues in the coastal suburb of Avalon.
More than 80 locations, including cafes, gyms, casinos and supermarkets across Sydney, were identified that had been visited by people with confirmed cases.
Authorities urged everyone who attended the sites to get tested immediately and to isolate themselves, while dozens of domestic flights scheduled to depart from Sydney were canceled on Monday.
With travel routes altered, Australian states and territories warned their own residents to leave New South Wales and return quickly if they wanted to avoid mandatory quarantine.
Once again, concrete barriers will be erected on the border between New South Wales and the state of Queensland, with Australian police and military personnel deployed to many state borders to enforce the new rules, the Queensland state government said. .
Lawmakers warned people to expect long delays at state lines.
Desperate to contain the spread, New South Wales has opened dozens of new test sites, some of which are open 24 hours a day.
New South Wales health authorities said more than 38,000 tests had been performed in the past 24 hours, a new record.
The source of the infection is unknown, although Ms Brejiklian said tests showed that the Covid-19 strain found in northeast Sydney was almost identical to that found in a US airline worker who arrived in Sydney on 1 from December.
All arrivals enter mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival, which Australia credits as central in avoiding high numbers of coronavirus compared to other developed nations.
While in hotel quarantine, people are tested for Covid-19.
Australia has largely avoided high coronavirus numbers compared to other developed nations, but the new group has sparked fears of a broader outbreak.
The country has recorded just under 28,200 cases and 908 deaths since the pandemic began.
The Sydney outbreak has forced the abandonment of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race for the first time in 76 years, and other cities are on hold to host the Australia-India cricket event scheduled to begin at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 7th. .
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