NSW has recorded 18 new COVID-19 cases, including infections linked to an inner-Sydney restaurant and a gym in the western suburbs, as community transmission cases continue to rise.
Key points:
Among the new infections are 13 cases that were locally acquired.
NSW Health deputy chief health officer Jeremy McAnulty warned the community to remain vigilant.
“Everyone has got a role to play. Don’t be complacent.”
NSW Health said transmission in hotels and restaurants, gyms and social gatherings was of “particular concern”, and urged people to avoid non-essential travel and social gatherings.
From midnight on Tuesday, NSW will tighten restrictions for entry from Victoria.
In a statement, NSW Health said it “totally discourages all non-essential travel to Victoria and the border region”.
For those travelling within the Sydney region, NSW Health requested people “make practical and sensible decisions for themselves that will limit the transmission of COVID-19”.
Under current restrictions, 20 people are allowed at a gathering at home, but NSW Health urged people to “take the extra precaution” of limiting that number to 10.
One new locally acquired case is someone who attended the Holy Duck! restaurant on Kensington Street in Chippendale on July 10 between 7:15pm and 9:30pm.
Anyone who was at the restaurant at the same time is being told to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms.
The restaurant is part of the busy Kensington Street dining precinct which is next to the Central Park complex on Broadway in central Sydney.
Another new case visited Anytime Fitness in Merrylands in Western Sydney on July 14, from 9:00pm to 10:30pm.
Anyone who visited the gym then is being asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
The new cases include four people who went to the Thai Rock restaurant at the Stockland Mall in Wetherill Park and a close contact of one of the cases.
There are eight cases now linked to Thai Rock.
Among the remaining new cases is one person linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster.
Two people are members of the same household of two confirmed cases who visited the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club and Albion Park McDonald’s.
Two people in south Sydney and one in south-western Sydney have been diagnosed with no known links to clusters.
Another case is still under investigation.
The remaining five cases are returned travellers in quarantine.
A private health clinic in Sydney’s west has confirmed a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19.
Northside Group Wentworthville Clinic, a 70 bed private hospital, has undergone a deep clean.
The staff member went to get tested after visiting a COVID hotspot venue.
Three other staff members who are close contacts are now in self-isolation.
Some 25,917 tests were carried out in the period to 8:00pm Saturday.
NSW has now reported 3,379 cases with 2,799 recovered.
