New South Wales Records Zero Cases of COVID-19 but Remains on High Alert

Registered Nurse holds a COVID-19 swab test in a file photo. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

New South Wales has recorded zero cases of the CCP virus 24 hours after the state went on high alert after a potentially infectious Victorian man travelled extensively through the southern regions of the state.

The man and his family, who were on a trip to Jervis Bay and Hyam’s Beach, from May 19 to May 24, visited a number of venues and locations that have now become possible COVID-19 hotspots. The man developed symptoms on May 25 when he was back in Victoria, but did not get tested until nearly a week later.

The NSW Health has ramped up testing in the areas including Gundagai, Goulburn, Jervis Bay, Huskisson, and Vincentia with several pop-up clinics, but despite 18,672 tests, no new cases of locally acquired COVID-19 have been detected.

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said NSW Health was working with Victorian authorities to determine who in the family contracted the virus first.

“If this gentleman was the source for those individuals, then they were not potentially infectious when they were in NSW, and clearly if the reverse is the case that may take back the exposure period,” Chant said on Wednesday.

Currently, NSW Health has told 243 people to get tested and isolate while they await a negative result.

“We’ve asked (them) to stop and stay until we actually really understand and do a full assessment of the risk,” Chant said.

NSW Health is asking anyone who visited the following venues to get tested and isolate until receiving further information from NSW Health:

• The Coffee Pedaler, Gundagai, between 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. on May 19
• Green Patch campground, Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay, all-day May 23 until 9:00 a.m. May 24, and between 4:00 p.m. on May 19 and 9:00 a.m. on May 24
• 5 Little Pigs, Huskisson, between 8:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on May 21
• Huskisson Treasure Chest, Huskisson, between 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on May 21
• Cooked Goose Cafe (formerly Hyams Beach Cafe), Hyams Beach, between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on May 23
• Coles Vincentia Shopping Village, Vincentia, between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. on May 21, between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. on May 22, and between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. on May 23
• Shell Coles Express Big Merino, Goulburn, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on May 24 and between 1:45 p.m. and 2:05 p.m. on May 19
• Trapper’s Bakery, Goulburn, between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m on May 24
• Gundagai Craft Centre, Gundagai, between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on May 19
• Junque and Disorderly Antique Site, Gundagai, between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on May 19

Victorian authorities believe the strain circulating in the state is much more infectious than previous variants, capable of transmitting between strangers with very minimal contact.

Those concerns prompted the Victorian government to extend their lockdown for Greater Melbourne for at least another seven days until midnight on June 10.