SYDNEY, Jun 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), recorded one new locally acquired case of COVID-19, which will be included in tomorrow’s figures, as the person tested positive late last night.
At the same time, the state’s official figure for today is two cases, who were already announced yesterday, bringing the total cases of the latest outbreak to five.
The new infection appeared to occur in a shopping centre in Sydney’s east, which was also attended by the first known case in the latest cluster, a limousine driver.
The number of exposure sites visited by these initial cases increased to 27.
The growing number of local cases prompted NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, to reintroduce mandatory mask-wearing on public transport for the next five days, from 4:00 p.m. today, with masks also strongly encouraged for all public indoor venues.
“As evident in the two cases, a fleeting passing is all it takes. Some people for some reason aren’t contagious and some are extremely contagious. The randomness of that is what makes it scary,” said Berejiklian.
The NSW government also urged people to avoid non-essential visits, to aged care and disability facilities.
With the latest outbreak, health authorities are ramping up testing, with 21,678 tests being conducted in the last 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. yesterday.– NNN-AGENCIES
