Australia news LIVE NSW records 239 new local COVID-19 cases as harsher restrictions implemented for eight Sydney LGAs

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Health authorities are still unsure of the source of acquisition for the Moonee Valley traffic worker who tested positive yesterday, according Acting Victorian Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie.

“There’s a lot of investigations going on … [we are] exploring all of the possibilities of where this acquisition occurred,” he said.

“We’re taking a very precautionary approach in siloing and testing. Staff are really investigating whether this was indeed an occupational exposure or exposure in the community.”

Acting Victorian COVID-19 response commander Naomi Bromley said some residents of the Newport apartment complex visited by the man may have initially been confused after some received calls from health authorities (there were some rumours that the building was being put into lockdown).

“We think the messaging probably has been uniform but obviously as that messaging is happening progressively ... different people are being contacted at different times,” Ms Bromley said.

“There might be a bit of ... confusion in the very early stages of that but my understanding is that everyone in the complex has now been phoned and provided with direct instructions.”

Ms Bromley added that there might be some residents of an apartment complex in Hawthorn that are getting updated health advice that may require them to quarantine or test, but she did not have any more information at hand.

Victorian health authorities have detected COVID-19 fragments in wastewater in an inner eastern Melbourne suburb, says acting Victorian Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie.

Acting Victorian Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie. Credit:Joe Armao

“We’ve had some unexpected wastewater sample detections for COVID-19 in the Camberwell area â€" samples that were taken on the 26th and the 27th of July,” he said.

“So for people in the Camberwell region, if you have the mildest of symptoms, please go and get tested for COVID 19.”

Acting Victorian COVID-19 response commander Naomi Bromley says the public health team is still investigating a new case at the Moonee Valley testing site, in Melbourne’s north-west, and have learnt that the man visited his partner at a low-rise apartment complex in Newport, in the city’s south-west.

“He did visit his partner in Newport while he was infectious and tests are on the way for those people living in a low-rise apartment complex in Newport,” she said.

“We’re investigating where he was during his acquisition period, and where he worked and travelled while infectious.

“Testing is already under way, and several members of his household and his close social circle have already returned a negative test result.

“We do know that the positive case worked at Moonee Valley Racecourse testing site, and that site remains closed today and will do so for a few days yet.”

His work colleagues are also being tested.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley says the coronavirus is still in the community.

Of the six new cases identified in the past 24 hours, four cases are students at Bacchus Marsh Grammar who were picked up during their day 13 test, and the other two are household contacts of the positive case at the Lacrosse Apartment building in Docklands.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley. Credit:Chris Hopkins

Health authorities have conducted interviews with yesterday’s case, a traffic controller at a Moonee Valley testing site.

“That has seen a number of exposure sites put up online,” Mr Foley said.

“I urge everyone to check their website and get tested if you have been in those exposure sites at the dates and times listed. This virus is still with us, well and truly.”

Mr Foley said there were still patients in Victoria in hospital with COVID-19.

“We have seven cases in hospital. This includes two in ICU with one of those people being on a ventilator.”

He said 99.2 per cent of tests were being returned the following day.

Asked what he would say the commentators, such as Alan Jones, who have questioned health orders, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says they need to “wake up”.

“The community need to understand the decisions are taken as best as possible on the basis of evidence and science to keep us safe,” he said.

Mr Hazzard said people who were not getting vaccinated because they didn’t want to were being “extremely selfish”.

“You should think about what you are doing to your family and to the community,” he said.

“I would say, even more than that: what a ridiculous position is that when you are going to put health staff at risk and when you get sick, you are going to expect to come into hospital and get paid for by taxpayers.

“It is time for those who actually think that way to wake up, including commentators who actually don’t base their commentary on logic whatsoever.”

After two federal Liberal MPs earlier this morning suggested some areas could exit lockdown earlier, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was open to this happening in some parts of the outskirts of Greater Sydney, but it was unlikely to be “any time soon”.

“If we get health advice that says some areas, particularly those on the edge of greater metropolitan Sydney, are virus-free and the risk is low, we can take those measures,” she said.

The Greater Sydney area includes areas such as the Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong.

“Whilst I appreciate people want to be let off if there are no cases in their community, but while that is the situation today, it may not be the situation tomorrow.”

The Premier has again stressed that vaccination and restrictions would be the “dual approach” to get Greater Sydney out of its lockdown.

“If you want to protect yourself and your loved ones, get vaccinated. That is the strongest message we can send.”

Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Foley and acting Victorian Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie are providing the state’s official coronavirus update.

It comes after six new cases were announced this morning, all linked and in isolation. Yesterday’s mystery case remains under investigation.

Watch live below.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says there have been only a “handful” of instances where close contacts have been found to not be in isolation in south-west Sydney, noting she is much more concerned by incorrect mask wearing.

“The amount of noses, chins that I have managed to see with masks ... it is important that people wear and fit masks appropriately to provide that protection,” Dr Chant said.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant. Credit:Janie Barrett

She reminded people to also make sure they were changing their masks regularly and maintain social distancing during any trips outside the homes.

“Be as brief as you can, don’t go into crowded spaces â€" if there [are] a few people inside waiting, just wait outside,” she said.

She warned “well over 50 per cent” of Sydney’s cases were under the age of 40.

“We have to also remember that the communities of south-western and western Sydney are also particularly young,” she said, noting it was important to crack down on transmission in essential workplaces where this demographic is employed.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says police have been conducting door-to-door checks of close contacts, as Premier Gladys Berejiklian stresses compliance measures are targeted and not excessive.

The Commissioner said all close contacts were at home when they were visited by police and those checks would continue.

Commissioner Mick Fuller on Thursday.Credit:Janie Barrett

“We know home-to-home transmission is a huge issue for us; we know people are bringing it home from work sites which aren’t complying with health orders,” he said.

Mr Fuller said he would “absolutely” consider assistance from the Australian Defence Force but it was not currently needed.

The Premier stressed the compliance measures were targeted based on areas of concern, noting police presence in south-west Sydney had been shifted from the Fairfield area to Canterbury-Bankstown after mobility declined substantially in Fairfield, where the most cases were being recorded earlier this month.

“We should always be open to being adaptable and flexible according to what the virus is doing and according to where the virus is circulating,” she said.

A fully vaccinated staff member from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital’s emergency department has tested positive to COVID-19.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed the staff member was potentially infectious from July 24 to July 27.

Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Credit:Janie Barrett

“The person did not have any symptoms and they tested positive with a regular surveillance test,” Dr Chant said.

“All close contact and casual contact have been identified and contacted and there’s no evidence of transmission to date to staff or patients. The emergency department has been thoroughly cleaned and there’s no disruption to patient care.”

On Tuesday sixteen ED patients at RPA were identified as close contacts after a COVID-19 patient visited the hospital.

“Patients and staff who enter the hospital continue to be screened. This has been the practice throughout the COVID response in hospital settings,” Sydney Local Health District chief executive Teresa Anderson said in a statement.

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