COVID-19 exposure sites: Recent WA arrivals who visited NSW exposure sites urged to isolate

A Sydney man in his 60s who drove international flight crews to their quarantine hotels has been confirmed as a new local COVID-19 case, sparking a scramble to prevent any community spread.

And NSW Health was notified late on Wednesday that a household contact of the new case had also tested positive for COVID-19, with further potential exposure sites identified.

West Australians who have visited areas of concern linked to the NSW cases are being urged to isolate for 14 days.

Among the areas visited by the man including a cinema, cafes and department stores at Bondi Junction plus venues in Vaucluse and North Ryde.

The source of the infection is unknown.

WA Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson said anyone who had visited the exposure sites at the specified times should get tested immediately for COVID-19, quarantine for 14 days

“NSW Health is in the process of contact tracing the case and will notify WA Health if any close or casual contacts are found to be in Western Australia to allow for appropriate public health follow up to be taken,” he said.

“Any risk to WA remains very low but, again, the situation highlights the importance of remaining vigilant to prevent any spread of the virus or community transmission in this State.

“We will continue to monitor the situation in New South Wales very closely, as we do when any cases of this nature emerge, and will issue updated health advice if required.”

The NSW man was potentially infectious when he attended the screening of the film Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard at Cinema 1 at Events Cinema at Bondi Junction on Sunday June 13 between 1.30pm and 4pm.

The cinema has been identified as a close contact venue and anyone who attended that film screening must immediately contact NSW Health, get tested and isolate for 14 days.

Other venues of concern in Bondi Junction, Vaucluse and North Ryde include cafes, a Myer store and a bakery. The list of venues can be found on the NSW Health website.

It comes as NSW Health also investigates a potential hotel quarantine breach, after two cases in adjacent rooms returned identical viral sequencing results.

It’s unclear how and where transmission occurred from a couple to another returned traveller who were all staying on the fourth floor of Sydney’s Radisson Blu quarantine hotel.

Genomic sequencing has shown all three cases have identical viral sequences of the Alpha strain (B.1.1.7), NSW Health said.

“At this stage we still don’t know if it happened on the plane, transporting from the plane to the accommodation, at the accommodation or whether it was just a coincidence,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Wednesday.

The couple, who were asymptomatic, tested positive to COVID-19 on a routine day two test on June 3, NSW Health said in a statement.

The other returned traveller returned a negative day two test on June 3, before subsequently developing symptoms and testing positive for COVID-19 following a test on June 5.

The three cases were transferred from the Radisson Blu to the Special Health Accommodation, where they remain.

All three arrived in Sydney on the same flight from Doha on June 1 and stayed in adjacent rooms in the quarantine hotel.

NSW Health said there was no evidence of further transmission.

All guests and staff who were on the fourth floor of the hotel between June 1 and June 5 have been asked to get tested and isolate pending further advice.