At least 17 Shoahaven Hospital staff will be in isolation for the next two weeks, after they were identified as having "close contact" with a female patient who tested positive to COVID-19 earlier this week.
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"At this stage, 17 staff and three patients have been identified as having close contact," Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Chief Executive Margot Mains said
"We have mitigation strategies in place to ensure continuity of service at the hospital."
"These include immediately identifying and isolating patients and sending home staff who may have had close contact with the case."
She said the health district was continuing to working with hospital staff, the Public Health Unit, Infection Control and NSW Health to identify and contact patients, staff and visitors who were close contacts with the patient.
"We are immediately establishing which staff, patients and visitors may need to self- isolate as a precaution," she said.
Additionally, in line with "strict infection control guidelines", Ms Mains said the hospital has temporarily restricted visitors to some areas and some elective surgery has also been temporarily restricted.
"Surge planning is underway to ensure we have the capacity to meet demand in key areas and we are finalising preparations for the District's second COVID-19 Assessment Clinic at Shoalhaven Hospital next week," she said.
Also on Friday, NSW recorded its biggest 24-hour spike in coronavirus case numbers on Friday, with authorities reporting 75 new cases in the 24 hours to 11am.
That took the total number cases to 382, with Health Minister Brad Hazzard saying the spike showed the seriousness of the continuing crisis.
In his daily briefing, Mr Hazzard also said NSW Health was seeking all passengers who came off the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney on Thursday, after a COVID-19 outbreak was discovered on board.
Mr Hazzard said 13 swab tests were done on board before people disembarked due to some "flu activity", even though there was no evidence of COVID-19 on the ship.
However, due to increased cautionary measures, these were checked for COVID-19, and three returned a positive result.
One was in a crew member who remains on board the ship, another was a passenger who is in a serious condition in Sydney, and a third had travelled on to Tasmania.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said a fourth passenger has been confirmed as having the disease, and one other case is already under investigation.
"Why it is so urgent for us now, is that those people indicate that there may be the possibility of other passengers on board that ship who could have had the COVID virus," she said.
"If they are following instructions given to them by border force then they will be at home in quarantine for 14 days and that ... shouldn't present any major concerns."
"The very big concern is that those people came off their ship with no knowledge of the virus being on their ship."
In his media conference, Mr Hazzard also issued a public warning for many people who were outside enjoying the hot weather.
He noted reports that "many thousands" of people had been gathering at Bondi Beach and said "we are in different times, we need to behave in different ways".
"Whether you are in Bondi or whether you are in a church, separated by 1.5 metres," he said.
Locally, Port Kembla Hospital's hydrotherapy pool will be closed until further notice, with public rehabilitation patients to be notified directly.
An Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District spokesperson said the precautionary measure was being part of the health district's response to COVID-19.
"The decision has been made in line with social distancing measures and due to the challenges of staff using personal protective equipment in the wet environment specific to hydrotherapy."
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
