Two aged care residents are among 35 new local cases recorded in New South Wales, with the state recording a spike in infections on Monday.
The number of infections linked to existing clusters is 33, with 20 considered household contacts.
Of the 35 new cases, 24 were isolated during their infectious period, with 11 people out and about in the community.
The number of cases linked to the Bondi outbreak has grown to 312, with four patients receiving intensive care treatment.
NSW recorded 35 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8 pm last night.
Of these locally caught cases, 33 are linked to a known issue or cluster – 20 are household contacts – and the source of infection for two points remains under investigation. pic.twitter.com/EzivfeHPrP
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 5, 2021
While the number of infections sharply increased on Sunday’s figures, Premier Gladys Berejiklian remained confident lockdown measures had the desired effect.
“I foreshadowed a few days ago that the numbers were likely to bounce around; that is what we have seen overnight,” the premier said.
“I can say that the lockdown certainly has been effective in not doubling and tripling the figures we were worried about.” Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant praised high testing numbers but said it was too soon to determine if the region would exit lockdown at the week’s end.
“I’m pleased to see that we’ve had some people come forward for testing over the weekend, which has allowed us to link unlinked cases,” she told reporters.
“The more certainty we have that we have tracked down every single case of transmission, that does provide us with a lot more confidence.”
The aged care cluster grows to five.
The number of cases among residents at the SummitCare Baulkham Hills aged care facility has risen to five, with two new infections overnight.
Both were women in their 70s, one of whom was not vaccinated, having entered SummitCare in mid-May after the initial rollout.
All five residents are asymptomatic and have been transferred to Westmead Hospital, with one close contact who has since tested negative.
The cases are believed to have been directly infected by a single staff member who was not fully vaccinated.
SummitCare Chief Operating Officer Michelle Sloane told reporters she was “extremely disappointed” the outbreak had occurred.
Ms. Sloane said that until last week, when the federal government announced vaccination would be mandated for residential aged care workers, the facility could not insist staff get vaccinated or compel them to say if they had been immunized.
“If we said to all of our unvaccinated staff, ‘don’t come to work,’ then there’d be no one to care,” she said.
“That is not just us, but every aged care business across Australia and every hospital across Australia.
“We would have liked it to be mandated earlier.”
Ninety-six percent of residents have been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. The chief health officer told reporters no cases had been reported in unexpected areas of the facility.
“My understanding is the cases are arising in the area where we would expect the cases to occur and that there are quite robust infection control measures put in place,” Dr. Chant said.
“There is a lot of attention to doing everything we can to prevent any further transmission, but…until we’re past that 14 days since those residents were last exposed to the infectious staff, we are not out of the woods,” Dr. Chant said.
Waterloo gathering under ‘intense’ investigation
Five new infections have been linked to Virgin Australia flight VA524 on Saturday, June 26, while another two conditions are connected to the birthday party at West Hoxton, putting that cluster at 45 cases.
Three cases resulted from a small “gathering” on June 26 at Meriton Suites in Waterloo, held when local stay-at-home restrictions were in force. “We are going to be looking intensively at that event. Putting the puzzle together takes a little work,” Dr. Chant said. We are pleased that individuals have come forward to get tested. That is my message. Please come forward to get tested.”
NSW Health urges anyone – including guests, staff, and contractors – on any level of the Meriton Suites from 7 pm on June 26 and 8 am on Monday to get tested and isolated until further information from authorities immediately. An alert for a Sydney train and bus route was also issued on Monday afternoon. A complete list of exposure sites can be found here.
