NSW Health said 13,339 were tested in the last 24 hours, and there were five cases new infections recorded in hotel quarantine.
A new venue of concern, XOPP restaurant in Sydney’s Chinatown, has been identified and anyone who was there on Wednesday April 28 between 1:30pm-2:30pm must get tested.
Earlier this morning Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Sydney isn’t likely to head into lockdown.
“Not at this stage,” the premier said.
She suggested there may not be any new community cases of coronavirus reported in the state today.
“All I will say at this stage is I’m very pleased with how things are going,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian said the main concern for authorities was the fact someone had been going about their business in the community not knowing they had the virus, but she was confident in the systems in place to find the source.
The premier also expressed her irritation that other states had taken more drastic measures – against NSW in particular – amid their own recent positive local cases.
“I felt a sense of frustration because there’s another way through,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Yes, it’s a very dangerous disease, yes, it can kill, but we have to learn to live with it.”
She said Sydneysiders shouldn’t change their Mother’s Day plans, they should “just be extra careful” over the next three days.
“Don’t change what you are doing on Mother’s Day – if you are welcoming people into your home, limit it to 20, then if someone does have the virus it only spreads to those 20 people,” Ms Berejiklian said.
She said she still plans to celebrate Mother’s Day with her family.
“We plan to go out for an early dinner and we will continue to do that.
“I’m always careful around my parents – they are both in their 80s and they’re careful as well – that’s the way we have to live in this pandemic.”
When Stefanovic put it to her that there are theories circulating about the timing of the new cases – close to the Mother’s Day weekend – she said the decision to reintroduce restrictions was “based on science”.
“I think there’d be a conspiracy theory every day during a pandemic,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Our job as a government is to keep everybody safe – to keep the economy going so people continue to work and have jobs.
“That balance is always going to attract controversy – When I make an announcement, some say I haven’t gone far enough. Some say I’ve gone too far.”
‘Big Job’ to trace source of new Sydney infections
Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth has admitted it’s ‘a big job’ to trace the source of Sydney’s new coronavirus outbreak.
The man, who is from Woollahra in Sydney’s east, and his wife, both have the virus.
Dr Coatsworth told Today that in the past, officials have always worked out how people have caught the virus.
But he admitted there was a concern the virus is spreading through the community undetected.
“I think what we’ve got to remember is when this has happened before, and there have been mystery links, we have found them,” he said.
“The NSW public health team have proven themselves to be world leading, nation leading in the past and world leading and they will do on this occasion as well.
“But it is a race, and they’re a very polished team as they race to find a missing link.
“At this stage it’s absolutely a real mystery.
“We know it’s a variant that’s come from the United States. It’s not one of the variants of concern, so it’s not one of the variants that tends to spread more rapidly within the community, and that’s good news.
“But what that link might be, between a returned traveller and hotel quarantine and this particular gentleman is not yet known.”
This content first appear on 9news