There are now 89 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, according to the latest statistics released at midday.
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Of these cases, nine patients are being cared for in Wollongong Hospital, one patient is in Shellharbour Hospital and one patient in Shoalhaven Hospital.
This is an increase of four cases in the last 24 hours: on Monday at 7.30am there were 85 confirmed cases across the district.
The latest breakdown of the cases according to Local Government Area (which lags slightly behind the health district numbers) shows the bulk of Illawarra cases are in Wollongong, which had 42 COVID-19 patients at 8pm on Monday.
Shoalhaven had 20 and Shellharbour had 18, while Kiama remained largely untouched by the disease, and is among 32 LGA which have between 1-4 cases (the lowest reading on the list).
In all four Local Government Areas, locally acquired transmission remains low, according to the numbers.
Wollongong and Shoalhaven have between 1-4 cases where there is an unknown source of infection, while Shellharbour and Kiama do not appear on this list.
Across NSW there are now 2032 COVID-19 cases, with 114 new cases overnight - a smaller increase than in previous days.
However, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant has warned that the drop in new case numbers comes as fewer tests are being done.
She said she would be requesting extra testing in various NSW hot spots, including a pop-up site in Bondi where there has been an outbreak in backpackers testing positive.
Dr Chant warned about "the weekend effect", where a decline in new cases may be because people were less likely to present for testing on the weekend when many GPs are shut.
"I suppose I'm just very cautious in interpreting the numbers because I know that whenever I interpret a number, it has to be interpreted in the context of the testing rates," she said.
"But I'm urging increased testing and particularly aligned to active clusters and community transmission."
In the Illawarra, anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 and their close contacts are either being treated in hospital or are in self-isolation.
The Public Health Unit is contacting close contacts of the new cases, who are being asked to self-isolate for 14 days from last contact. They will be contacted every day to check that they are well and any contact who develops COVID-19 symptoms will be tested for the infection.
"COVID-19 assessment clinics at Wollongong, Shellharbour and Shoalhaven hospitals are being used well by the public which we're very grateful for," ISLHD emergency nurse consultant Professor Kate Curtis said.
"However there's still a portion of the population who seem to think they won't get sick - they're the ones putting everyone at risk."
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Prof Curtis said those who fit the criteria should contact the clinics for an appointment.
Criteria includes those who've returned from overseas in the last 14 days and showing acute respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath and sore throat.
It also includes those who've had close contact with a person with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
Other people with symptoms should call their GP or the COVID-19 hotline (1800 020 080).
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