13 Linked to Sydney Pub COVID-19 Cluster

13 Linked to Sydney Pub COVID-19 Cluster
Medical staff at a pop-up COVID-19 testing clinic, perform tests on drivers in the Sydney suburb of Casula, Australia on July 11, 2020. (David Gray/Getty Images)
AAP
By AAP
7/12/2020
Updated:
7/13/2020

NSW has recorded 14 new COVID-19 cases, with the number of infections linked to a Sydney pub outbreak rising to 13.

Four of the new cases confirmed on July 13 are travellers in hotel quarantine, while another two are NSW residents who caught the virus in Victoria.

Eight are linked to an outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel in southwest Sydney, including a teenage pub worker, a Sydney woman in her 40s and a Victorian man in his 20s who had already been revealed to have tested positive.

None of the new cases are believed to have been the source of infection at the hotel, according to NSW Health.

All patrons of the Casula pub, who entered from July 3 to 10, must now self-isolate and are being urged to get tested as a precaution.

The outbreak has prompted the closure of another venue for cleaning, as one of those infected attended Picton Hotel on July 4, 9 and 10.

NSW Government Minister Stuart Ayres on Monday said he didn’t think the state’s virus outbreak was getting out of control, but it was important that Crossroads visitors get tested.

“I think we’re in a pretty good place at the moment, but we are at the crossroads,” Ayres told Seven’s Sunrise.

“This particular hotel is located at the juncture of the M7 and the M5, it’s a big traveller’s hotel, which is why if anyone’s been in that location it’s so important that they go and get tested immediately.”

Werriwa MP Anne Stanley said she had been tested and gone into self-isolation after dining at the Crossroads Hotel last week.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, the federal MP said her office would be closed as a precaution with all staff working from home.

Several defence force personnel are also isolating after attending the hotel but NSW Health said none of them have tested positive.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant previously said the pub outbreak highlighted the importance of businesses recording contact details for customers and the public taking the measures seriously.

On Sunday night, Casula’s Planet Fitness gym confirmed on its Facebook page that a member had returned a positive test for coronavirus.

“The member has not been at the club since Friday 10 July, and is in quarantine,” the gym’s letter to members said, adding that staff were in self-quarantine and it was following NSW Department of Health advice.

The gym has been closed and is being disinfected.

Sydney