New South Wales announces 14 new coronavirus cases as the worrying Sydney CBD cluster grows again and a raft of new restrictions are brought in
- New South Wales reported at least 14 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday
- One case was linked to a returned traveller and 13 were community transmitted
- Eight cases were linked to the CBD gym cluster which has grown to 23 cases
- Sydney and Central Coast aged care homes will be locked down for two weeks
Another 14 coronavirus cases have been reported in New South Wales, as the Sydney cluster which began at a CBD gym continues to spread.
Only one case was linked to a returned traveller in hotel quarantine and eight have been linked to the growing CBD cluster from the City Tattersalls Club gym.
Aged care homes in Sydney and the NSW Central Coast will also be shut off from visitors for 14 days to stop COVID-19 spreading to vulnerable residents.
New South Wales recorded 14 new coronavirus cases on Friday and only one case was linked to a returned traveller in hotel quarantine (People wearing masks in Sydney pictured)
Eight cases were linked to the growing City Tattersalls Club gym (pictured) cluster in the CBD and anyone who attended the gym between August 4 and 18 has been urged to get tested
Ten of the new cases were linked to a known cluster and three remain under investigation, while the city cluster officially grew to 23 cases.
'Of the new cases, two are household contacts of previously reported cases, three attended the City Tattersalls Club, and three were close contacts of people linked to this cluster,' NSW Health said in a statement.
'NSW Health is investigating whether the CBD cluster originated in the City Tattersalls Club and then spread to workplaces in the city and to households across Sydney and the Central Coast.
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'Genomic sequencing of the virus from cases in this cluster are related to other recent clusters in NSW,' the statement said.
Two new cases are also household contacts linked to Liverpool Hospital.
NSW Health are treating 67 cases of COVID-19, with six people in intensive care and four who are ventilated
The total number of cases in NSW is 3,844 and at least 24,632 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.
NSW Health have also asked anyone who attended the City Tattersalls gym between August 4 and August 18 to get tested and isolate at home.
The growing coronavirus cluster sparked an alert from NSW Health on Friday night.
Aged care homes in Sydney and the NSW Central Coast will also be shut off from visitors for 14 days to stop the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus testing pictured in Sydney)
NSW (Premier Gladys Berejiklian pictured) have recorded a total of 3,844 coronavirus cases
'As a precaution NSW Health is extending existing visitor restrictions by strongly advising people who live or work in the Greater Sydney metropolitan area and Central Coast to refrain from visiting aged care facilities until 12 September,' the alert said.
That means no visits on fathers' day on September 6.
'There is currently no evidence of any cases in aged care residents or staff in aged care facilities in NSW. These are precautionary steps to prevent the entry of COVID-19 into this vulnerable setting,' the statement said.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the growing cluster linked to the City Tattersalls Club gym was proof how quickly virus outbreaks can spiral out of control.
'It highlights how quickly COVID-19 can spread in the sense we have a seeding event, its amplification and then that has seeded other workplaces and lead to exposure in the community to a number of venues that we have announced,' she said.
Meanwhile NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller established a committee to crack down on quarantine hotels and security guards after more than 350 quarantine guests at Sydney's Travelodge were moved to another city hotel.
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk around the eastern side of Circular Quay on August 23
A man wears a face mask and a face shield inside the lobby of the Travelodge Hotel in Surry Hills on Tuesday
'I have set up a new committee that will audit not just the security guards but they will also audit the hotels in terms of the cleanliness and the cleaning, and the sorts of briefings that hotel staff are getting,' he told the Daily Telegraph.
The move came after two security guards contracted coronavirus and Mr Fuller said 12 security guards had already been sacked from the hotel quarantine program.
Dr Chant has also allowed private school sporting competitions to resume from Saturday.
GPS private schools will be able to hold events after rules limiting all sport to public zones were relaxed but they will still have to adhere to strict COVID-safe guidelines, with spectators banned from attending.
The Sydney CBD cluster linked to the gym at City Tattersalls club is now sitting at 23 (Cleaners at the club pictured)
NSW Health said the new coronavirus cases had visited locations in Mosman, St Ives and Rosebery and urged anyone who attended at the same time to monitor for symptoms.
The Archie Bear café at Mosman Rowers on August 24 between 11am and 12pm and Tuesday 25 August 9:00am to 9.30am
Rosebery Post Shop, south of Sydney's CBD, between 1.30pm and 1.40pm on August 26.
And St Ives Shopping Centre, in north Sydney, between 2.30pm and 3.30 pm on August 24.
Sydneysiders have been urged to avoid aged care homes, wear a mask and continue to practice social distancing.
