'A state of high alert': Premier urges caution as NSW records 13 COVID-19 cases
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says there will be no new tightening of restrictions in New South Wales after the state recorded 13 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
The state's Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said on Thursday morning that 11 of the 13 new cases were returned travellers in hotel quarantine. The two other new cases were Albury residents, who were identified as probable cases earlier this week. The cases were related and one had recently travelled to Melbourne, she said.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Minister for Customer Serivce Victor Dominello and NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant update the media on the NSW government's coronavirus response at NSW Parliament in Sydney on JThursday.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
Dr Chant said an additional family member associated with the Albury cases had tested positive and would be included in Friday's figures.
Ms Berejiklian said at this stage "there is no evidence of any additional [community] transmissions" but urged people to be in "a state of high alert".
"I want to stress that what's occurred in Victoria is a wake-up call for all of us about how contagious the virus is, how it doesn't take very long for things to escalate quickly and how it doesn't take very long for that rate of community transmission to increase," she said.
Ms Berejiklian said she would not be tightening restrictions "at this stage", after flagging in a press conference on Wednesday that a possible change in the rules around gathering would be announced on Thursday.
The Premier said she would not know for a fortnight if the virus had seeded in any NSW communities.
"We won't know for sure for a couple of weeks, so we are monitoring the situation daily," she said.
Ms Berejiklian said more than 125,000 permits had been issued since the NSW-Victorian border closed at midnight on Tuesday.
The Premier thanked Service NSW staff for a "Herculean" effort in getting the permit system off the ground at such short notice.
"But in particular can I send the deepest and strongest message of gratitude to those border communities who are facing those disruptions and those difficult periods," Ms Berejiklian said, adding that she was "so grateful for everybody's co-operation".
The Premier also clarified her comments on Wednesday, in which she flagged the prospect of charging NSW residents returning from Victoria for mandatory hotel quarantine.
She said the government’s initial focus would be on charging overseas travellers first, before domestic travellers.
"Can I say quite stridently, we will be charging overseas returning visitors before we charge our own residents," Ms Berejiklian said.
However, she added this was still under consideration, and no decision had been made yet.
More to come
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