SYDNEY • A cluster of new coronavirus cases has emerged in Australia's New South Wales state, health officials said yesterday, just as the country appeared to be on the verge of snuffing out all community transmission.
The health authorities were still investigating a mystery case in a man who tested positive last Friday in the western Sydney suburb of Berala. All six locally acquired cases registered yesterday were close contacts of the man.
Australia, which has managed the pandemic better than many other countries through targeted lockdowns and high rates of testing and contact tracing, last week recorded a day of zero locally acquired cases, raising hopes that outbreaks in three states in summer had been brought under control.
The latest outbreak shows how easily the virus can spread, New South Wales state leader Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney, as she called for more people to come forward for testing.
"What is really important is to make sure that, given we are towards the tail end of this particular outbreak, that there have not been other superseding events, and we want to keep it that way," she said.
Australia has a strict policy of two weeks in hotel quarantine for returning international travellers.
The country has tightened procedures since the virus seeped into the community from a hotel security worker last May, sparking a second wave and a four-month lockdown in the second-biggest city of Melbourne.
Last Friday, three people on two charter flights tested positive on arrival in Melbourne, which will host the Australian Open tennis tournament next month. Among those placed in hard hotel quarantine were 47 players, who are barred from leaving their rooms to practise.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley yesterday confirmed that the year's first Grand Slam will go ahead from Feb 8 despite anger from some of the players over the quarantine rule.
Australia's new infections rose to 18, of which 12 involved returning travellers, health officials said, bringing the country's total to just over 28,700 cases and 909 deaths.
REUTERS
