Testing is being ramped up across Australia. Photo / Getty
Testing is being ramped up across Australia. Photo / Getty
Residents in Sydney's southwest have been warned to look out for signs of Covid-19 after two cases were found to have visited the same hotel in the area.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said a 30-year-old woman and a man in his 50s tested positive to the virus after visitingthe Crossroads Hotel in Casula.
The woman tested positive a few days ago but the man only returned a positive test result today.
"Obviously that has major ramifications, because it appears to bea likely point of connection whether two people could have actually come into contact at least with the virus, not necessarily directly, but at least the virus at the same location," Hazzard said.
"NSW Health has been in contact this afternoon with the management of that particular hotel and has asked them, in fact directed them, to close and provide all necessary details.
"The Government has made very clear rules for pubs and clubs and cafes to keep the list of names for people who visit.
"So if the hotel has complied we'll have hope we would have access to those names."
A pop-up testing facility will be set up in the car park of the hotel, with people who visited the venue from Saturday night asked to get tested if they have any symptoms.
Testing is being ramped up across Australia. Photo / Getty
Hazzard said he couldn't say exactly how many people were at the pub on Saturday but suggested it "would have been pretty full".
Chief medical officer Kerry Chant said there is a "strong possibility" the two cases were picked up from another person who was at the pub that day.
Victoria has recorded 228 new cases, the highest daily spike a single state has seen since the pandemic began.
Hazzard also flagged another "troubling" virus case that was diagnosed after a man in his 20s visited the Sutherland area from Melbourne.
The man drove from Melbourne and entered NSW on July 7, and has reported minimal contact with anyone in NSW apart from his partner and two friends.
Contact tracing is under way, and Hazzard thanked the man for coming forward.
"That is excellent that he came forward, and I encourage others in a similar situation that may have come from Victoria or Melbourne particularly to make sure you are on high alert, because we in New South Wales are on high alert, and we want you to get tested, and it is crucial you do," he said.
He said he wouldn't name the caravan park where the man was staying.
"We are looking at what other measures might be necessary for others in and around that caravan park, but obviously first of all there needs to be questioning to understand what his contacts might have been
"Can I just say on that front, New South Wales runs the risk at the moment of people coming out of particularly the Melbourne area, if they have ducked out of Melbourne, perhaps just before our new laws came in, our new orders, or perhaps they have come out since the orders, you would know that you are potentially a risk to the community of New South Wales," he said.
