Warning for NSW residents returning from Victoria
The second peak of coronavirus in Victoria reached a new high on Sunday, with 49 new infections from coronavirus clusters in Melbourne making a total of 90 new cases over the weekend, taking the number of cases where the source of infection is unknown, or community transmission, to 265.
Meanwhile, in NSW, local transmission is rare with just five cases without a known source reported in the past two weeks from more than 166,000 tests. Fewer than new 10 cases in total have been reported since Friday.
Nurse Alison Clifton with a swab test at a the Summer Hill COVID-19 clinic on the weekend.Credit:Cole Bennetts
NSW's Health Dr Michael Douglas said that people returning from Victorian hotspots needed to restrict their movements.
"Anyone who returns from areas of concern in Melbourne hotspots should not attend aged care facilities, hospitals, or other settings where vulnerable people might be," Dr Douglas said.
"They should avoid gatherings outside their immediate household for the next 14 days."
Victoria has tested about 40,000 people since Friday with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews saying many of those refusing tests were young children in hotel quarantine, whose parents did not wish them to undergo uncomfortable nose and throat swabs.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media on June 28 , 2020 in Melbourne. Credit:Darrian Traynor)
“I think what's driven the reticence of some parents to have their often very small children tested is that it is not a pleasant procedure," Mr Andrews said.
Saliva tests are now being rolled out for anyone in Victorian hotel quarantine.
“Much like a bushfire, putting this out is challenging,” Mr Andrews said. “Containing it, though, is something that we can do, and [widespread testing and contact tracing] is the most effective thing to do."
In NSW, there are just seven active cases of locally acquired COVID-19 with the vast majority of new cases found in returning international travellers who are quarantined in hotels.
The Victorian Government decided to follow the NSW Government's lead on Sunday and introduced mandatory testing for international travellers in hotel quarantine if they want to leave after 14 days.
Those not taking the test on day 11 will have to stay in quarantine for a further 10 days.
Most of the new cases in NSW are returned travellers in hotel quarantine, and less than two per cent of returned travellers refuse to take a coronavirus test on the 10th day of their stay, the NSW Health department said.
In Victoria, roughly 85 per cent of people in hotel quarantine had been tested, Mr Andrews said.
Fewer than 10 new cases were reported over the weekend in NSW (six on Saturday and three on Sunday), bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 3,177. Two of Sunday's cases were travellers in hotel quarantine and the third person was a 34-year-old cargo airline crew member, whose close contacts have been identified.
More than 830,000 COVID-19 tests have now been carried out in NSW with 49 people being treated by NSW Health, none in intensive care.
Western Australia reported one new case of COVID-19 on Sunday. There are now five active cases in the state, all of them in hotel quarantine.
Queensland recorded no new cases on Sunday and has just two active cases of COVID-19, both of them on the Gold Coast.
South Australia has had no new cases since May and is easing restrictions further on Monday to allow more people into restaurants and night spots.
Globally the number of COVID-19 infections is rapidly approaching 10 million with a death toll of almost 500,000 since January.
There were 44,602 new coronavirus cases in the USA on Saturday with total cases now above 2.5 million, but reports suggest the true number may be 10 times that as the death toll surges past 125,000 there.
America has the most known cases and deaths from coronavirus worldwide, more than a million cases ahead of Brazil, which has the second-highest number of infections. Mainland China, once the epicentre of infection, reported 17 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, mostly in the capital Beijing.