A dedicated swine flu clinic has been set up at Wollongong Hospital as the number of those infected continues to climb.
The clinic opening comes amid news that a Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts student has tested positive for the virus.
In a letter to parents, the school said the student had not attended classes at a time when he was infectious and NSW Health has confirmed no further action will be taken at the school at this time.
VIDEO: NSW Health swine flu update
Patients suspected of having swine flu will now be directed to the Wollongong clinic, which is located a short distance from the emergency department waiting room and is being staffed by nurses from the casualty department.
Health authorities intend it to keep people who could be carrying the virus away from others at a time of year when the waiting room traditionally swells.
Swine flu facts: the virus, the symptoms, the treatment "It was designed to separate the patients from the main emergency department service," Southern Hospitals Network general manager Sue Browbank said.
"Because we are at a busy time of year and we are seeing more people in general present to our emergency department, we are concerned we might have people waiting longer periods of time."
However people who suspect they are carrying the virus will still present to the emergency department for assessment by a triage nurse.
Mrs Browbank said the assessment would be immediate.
People are considered contacts only if they are within a 1m range of someone carrying the virus for 15 minutes or more.
"They're directed to be triaged normally through the emergency department, then if they meet the case definition they're taken to the influenza clinic," Ms Browbank said.
Calls for the clinic came last week when an influx of returned passengers from the cruise ship Pacific Dawn - since linked to 51 cases of the virus in NSW - hit Wollongong and Shellharbour hospitals for testing.
Wollongong Hospital recorded a 25 per cent increase in presentations and a woman who sought treatment at Shellharbour Hospital told the Mercury how 20 returned cruise ship passengers waited in her company for 25 minutes.
According to Mrs Browbank, activity at the sites had since declined.
She knew of only one family that used the clinic yesterday.
"Really the only people we are seeing coming through there are off the boat, Pacific Dawn, and they're following up the directions they've been given," she said. "So whilst we're ready and prepared, we have not been terribly busy."
Requests by the Mercury to inspect the clinic were denied.
Wollongong is one of nine swine flu clinic sites across NSW. Other clinics are at Gosford, John Hunter, Liverpool, Prince of Wales, Royal Prince Alfred, Royal North Shore, St George and Sydney hospitals.
A further 11 sites, including Shellharbour and Shoalhaven hospitals, have been placed on standby, however there is no talk of activating them yet.
'We aren't considering that at the present time," Mrs Browbank said.
Yesterday there were 14 confirmed cases in the South Eastern Sydney Illawarra area, two of them living on the South Coast.
NSW cases rose from 48 to 64 over the weekend, however growth in the state has been dwarfed by Victoria, where 75 per cent of Australia's more than 400 cases have been reported.
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