Coles, a butchers and an entire shopping centre are added to the growing list of exposure sites as Sydney battles a growing Covid outbreak
- Several Coles and Woolworths supermarkets have been declared exposure sites
- A butcher shop in Sydney's west was also flagged along with a shopping centre
- It comes as NSW recorded 98 new cases locally acquired Coronavirus infections
A long list of busy shopping centres in Sydney's Covid-hit southwest have been declared exposure sites, with several Coles, Woolworths and an IGA all added to the soaring list.
NSW Health also flagged a butchery in Lakemba and The Plaza shopping centre in Bonnyrigg.
It comes as the state recorded a further 98 new locally acquired cases on Monday, brining the total number of infections since the outbreak began last month to 1,340.
Two thirds of today's new cases were centred around Sydney's southwest in the Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown Local Government areas where stay-at-home restrictions have recently been tightened.
Woolworths in Sydney's Fairfield Heights (pictured) was among the supermarkets flagged by NSW Health
Pictured: A Sydney nurse wearing protective gear conducts a Covid test at Rushcutters Bay on July 13, 2021
Of major concern to contact tracers are two venues in Lakemba and a cafe in Summer Hill.
Anyone who visited the Paradise Grocery store on July 11 from 4:45pm – 5:05pm is considered a close contact and must immediately get tested and self isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
The same applies to the Al Sultan Butchery in Lakemba, for anyone who attended on July 14 from 8am to 8pm.
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NSW Health have also warned diners at the popular Café Juliet in Summer Hill, they are considered close contacts if they visited on Thursday July 8 between 11:30am to 12pm.
The same warning has also been given for Summer Hill Romeo's IGA for Thursday July 8 from 11:40am to 12pm.
The Plaza shopping centre in Bonnyrigg was among the new venues issued with public health alerts this afternoon, with shoppers at the Priceline Pharmacy and Fruitworld grocery store issued warnings for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week.
Shoppers who visited the complex at the times flagged by NSW Health are considered casual contacts and must immediately get tested and self isolate until they receive a negative result.
Shoppers at the Coles supermarket in Rose Bay (pictured) was issued a public health alert for Tuesday July 13 from 6pm to 7pm
The popular Lakemba Butcher Al Sultan (pictured) was declared a Covid exposure site for July 14 between 8am to 8pm
The Plaza at Bonnyrigg (pictured) and several stores within it have been flagged as Covid exposure sites
Two Coles and two Woolworths supermarkets, scattered across Sydney were included in Monday's exposure site drop, potentially sending hundreds of staff and shoppers into isolation.
Fairfield Heights Woolworths was issued alerts for Thursday July 8 and Saturday July 10, while Bonnyrigg Woolworths at The Plaza was flagged for Monday July 12.
Fairfield West Coles was also hit with an exposure listing for Thursday July 15 and Rose Bay Coles in the eastern suburbs was flagged for July 13.
It was not the only venue in the eastern suburbs to be effected with Double Bay Romic Moore Property Level 1 issued alerts for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week.
Of the 98 new cases, 37 so far remain unlinked to any known clusters or contacts, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned Sydneysiders to stay at home to slow the spread of infections.
There were 20 cases who were active in the community for their entire contagious period and another 17 for part of the time they were infectious.
Ms Berejiklian said 67 infections - more than two-thirds of the new cases - were found in Sydney's south-west.
There are 82 patients in NSW hospitals suffering from Covid-19, of which 24 are in intensive case and seven are being ventilated.
'That 20 number is the one we want to nudge,' she said. 'The closer we get that number to zero, the sooner we can end the lockdown.'
Greater Sydney is now entering its fourth week of strict stay-at-home restrictions to stem the spread of the outbreak which began in the city's eastern suburbs last month.
Ms Berejiklian said families across Sydney - particularly in the south-west where transmission is highest - needed to stay at home if the city had any chance at coming out of lockdown.
Pictured: A Sydneysider walks along Bondi Beach on Monday morning as the city enters a fourth week of lockdown
New South Wales has recorded 98 local cases of Covid-19 overnight - including 37 unlinked infections
'You need to be extra, extra careful about workplaces and about your own family members who don't live in your household,' Ms Berejiklian said.
'Workplaces not only spread the virus to colleagues but potentially spread the virus to other communities.'
Ms Berejiklian from Monday ordered all construction to pause for two weeks across Sydney, but she said high transmission levels were still being recorded in workplaces across the city.
She admitted meanwhile she may not be able to fully dial back NSW's strict restrictions until October - when 80 per cent of the state's population is expected to be vaccinated against the virus.
'Until we get vaccination rates at a level that will protect the community we will have to live with some level of restriction,' she said.
'I think that is accepted and we are looking forward to those extra doses that are coming by the end of September.
'So by the end of October they will be a much higher rate of vaccination.'
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