List of sites exposed to frightening Delta Covid strain grows AGAIN as Sydney gyms go on alert with more venues on the South Coast and experts warn testing rates aren't good enough
- List of Covid exposure sites to the threatening Delta strain has risen to six cases
- Latest is the Broken Drum Cafe in Fairy Meadow in the NSW Illawarra region
- Residents from Sydney's east warned coronavirus testing rates are below par
Two gyms in the Sydney CBD and two venues on the NSW south coast are among the latest exposure sites to be identified as the state battles an outbreak of the dangerous Delta strain of coronavirus.
The concerning development comes as the state's health minister warns current testing numbers in Sydney's east are grossly inadequate.
The addition of The Broken Drum Cafe in Fairy Meadow in the NSW Illawarra region as an exposure site comes after a man who tested positive to the virus attended the venue.
The Sydney man, aged in his 30s, also visited Bondi, Surry Hills and Westfield Bondi Junction.
Earlier on Saturday, a woman aged in her 40s who lives in the Bondi Junction area tested positive for the virus.
New South Wales now has six active cases as Greater Sydney prepares for more restrictions to be announced in the wake of the growing cluster
Anyone who visited the Fitness First gym in Sydney's CBD on Wednesday between 12.30pm and 1.15pm and Thursday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm is advised to get tested immediately
She regularly walks through the Westfield shopping centre where an infected man visited on June 12 and 13, but it is not known where she might have crossed his path.
The fresh infections prompted a number of new venue alerts on Saturday night.
Anyone who was in the Tempe Salvos, in Sydney's inner-west, on Wednesday between 2pm and 3pm is considered a close contact of a positive case and must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days no matter the result.
Anyone who was at Fitness First Pitt Street on Wednesday in the CBD between 12.30pm and 1.15pm or Thursday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm, or at the Baby Bunting store at Shellharbour on the NSW south coast from 4.30pm to 5.15pm on Friday is also encouraged to get tested immediately and self-isolate.
The other case announced on Friday is a man in his 50s who lives in the eastern suburbs and walked through the Westfield Bondi Junction Myer store.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard also said Friday's testing figure of 26,631 at Bondi Beach was 'nowhere near what we would like to see.'
'On the northern beaches, we were getting up to 70,000 a day, so we know people are capable of,' he said.
Earlier this week, a 60-year-old limousine driver was the first reported case in the eastern suburbs cluster.
His wife was later diagnosed with coronavirus. Her case was soon followed by a woman in her 70s who was sitting outside the Belle Café at Vaucluse in Sydney's east at the same time as the limousine driver was inside the venue, according to the ABC.
'The issue that has become apparent in the course of the last few days is that this particular Indian Delta virus is a near and present danger,' Mr Hazzard said in a press conference on Saturday.
'It is a virus that is a very capable of transmitting even when we have very fleeting proximity between the individual who is infectious and any of us who might be passing by.
'My very strong message to the community is if you have been in or around the Westfield shopping centre, you have to understand that it is not just Myer or David Jones.
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'The concern we have is that even if you happen to be passing the person who was infectious, for example, on an escalator, walking along a passageway, or going through the airspace with a person has breathed out, we could see you becoming positive.'
NSW Health are asking anyone who attended Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday June 12 or Sunday June 13, even the car park, to immediately get tested and isolate until they receive their result.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has warned testing numbers in Sydney's east (testing station pictured) are nowhere near good enough
NSW Health are asking anyone who attended Westfield Bondi Junction on June 12 or 13, even if they were only in the carpark, to immediately get tested and isolate
It is also unclear if the driver - who has the contagious Indian Delta virus variant - was wearing personal protective equipment as required for frontline workers (pictured, testing at Bondi on Thursday)
Fragments of the virus have also been picked up in sewer readings in the Camellia North catchment - putting more than 100,000 residents on high-alert this weekend.
The sewer is from suburbs including Parramatta, Granville and Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney's west.
Professor Tony Blakely told Today there is a 'good chance' Sydney will face increased and tougher restrictions to contain the spread of the new highly infectious virus strain that is now confirmed in Australia's biggest city.
'I hope it goes well for New South Wales, I really do but there's a good chance - its not a small chance - that more restrictions will be needed if this gets out of control,' he said.
Professor Blakely added NSW had 'done very well' and proven itself 'the poster child' of how to contain Covid, but the Indian Delta strain was a more worrying opponent, with aerosol spread during 'fleeting contact' a major factor.
Face masks will be mandatory on public transport until at least Wednesday across Greater Sydney in a bid to limit any further outbreak of the virus.
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