NSW Premier Gladys Berjeklian has put Greater Sydney Area, in particular the Northern Beaches suburbs into high COVID 19 alert following the cluster of community transmission at the Northern Beaches area. At a media conference at 11am, December 18, 2020, Ms Berjeklian announced that a total of 28 cases had been confirmed.
Yesterday 15 new cases were diagnosed from the original two detected, taking the area's total to 17 locally-acquired cases.
An additional one person who went to Queensland was also diagnosed, taking the toll to 18 cases.
Then, from 8pm until 11am AEDT, an additional 10 cases were found - taking the total of the cluster over the past 48 hours to 28.
More than 250,000 residents in the areas are told to stay at home for the next three days
Thousands more have been told to get tested an isolate for two weeks regardless of whether a they receive a negative test result.
"All of us have to adjust ... and try and at least in the next few days, if we see that we are on top of it, there is no reason why people can't look forward to a Christmas they were hoping to have," Ms Berejiklian said.
"But the next 24, 48 hours are absolutely critical."
"If you live on the Northern Beaches, please follow the health advice. If you live in Greater Sydney, please take extra precautions. If all of us pull together and do the right thing, we have a greater chance of having a good Christmas and all of us, I think, deserve to be with our loved ones an have a break."
Premier Berejiklian warned that all of Greater Sydney should be on "high alert" as the cluster grows.
"Nobody should be getting on public transport without a mask," Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed that the strain of the virus is most likely from the US.
This supports the working hypothesis that the infection may have come from a returned airline worker.
"we are at the moment looking at where that could have potentially matched… but at this moment our investigations are very preliminary.
Dr Chant said a health authorities believe a "significant seeding event" occurred on December 11 at the Avalon RSL.
The NSW Premier said she will wait another 24 to 48 hours before changing any restrictions, saying she did not want to tighten anything ahead of Christmas.
"But I also do want to stress we don't want to be in a position just before Christmas to have to restrict the easing of restrictions we have put in place a couple of weeks ago," Ms Berejiklian said.
"I know from the testing regime overnight but also from the behaviour of people today, especially in Avalon and the Northern Beaches, the people are taking our advice and they are listening to the health messages.
"But if we don't feel that is enough and we feel the number of cases is going up to an extent we are not comfortable with, we will take greater measures in and around the Northern Beaches community and perhaps even through Greater Sydney if we feel that risk is there," the premier said.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister expressed confidence for the situation to be successfully address.
"We dealt with outbreaks before and we will do again as we have done before. We are better off than other countries. I wish you all to enjoy a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. "
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The list of where the transmission and the dates they may have occurred are listed below*
Avalon: Avalon RSL Club Friday 11 December
All day until closed
Avalon Beach: Avalon Bowlo December 12, 2020
Sunday 13 December 5pm to 7pm
Tuesday 15 December 3pm to 5pm
Avalon Beach: Bangkok Sidewalk Restaurant
Monday 14 December 7pm to 8pm
Avalon Beach: Barramee Thai Massage and Spa
Avalon Beach: Barramee Thai Massage and Spa
Monday 14 December 2pm to 3:30pm
Avalon Beach: Sneaky Grind Café
Monday 14 December 9:30am to 11am
Kirribilli: Kirribilli Club
Monday 14 December 12pm to 3pm
Palm Beach: Palm Beach female change rooms
Sunday 13 December
Palm Beach: Coast Palm Beach Café
Sunday 13 December
10am to 11am
Penrith: Penrith RSL Club
Sunday 13 December 1pm to 6pm
*NSW Department of Health
COVID-19 (coronavirus) | NSW Government