Another COVID-19 case has emerged among Wollongong residents, one of 124 new locally acquired cases in NSW.
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The new case is not linked to the four other Wollongong cases announced earlier this week, but a known Sydney case.
While this person is a resident in the 2516 postcode which includes Bulli, they are in home isolation outside the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District.
NSW Health data shows the latest person to test positive lives in the Bulli postcode, while the four earlier cases all reside within the 2350 postcode.
Deputy chief health officer Dr Jeremy McAnulty named the city among the areas of concern again and asked anyone with even the mildest of symptoms to come forward for testing.
With cases rising - and most of those uncovered in recent days living in the Dapto area - Shellharbour MP Anna Watson has called on the NSW government to establish a COVID assessment clinic in the Dapto area.
"Those residents who reside in the 2530 postcode area are forced to travel to Berkeley, Figtree or Albion Park, to get a COVID-19 test," Ms Watson said.
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District's public health director Curtis Gregory said the capacity of the clinics at Berkeley and Albion Park had been boosted and it was indicated the Dapto community was well-served by these sites.
Mr Gregory said it was easier and faster to increase capacity at existing sites than to establish new clinics.
Previously, he said, the Albion Park clinic had been well-used by Dapto residents.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard has also revealed that new rules will come into force that mean people not wearing a mask when required will have to provide evidence from a registered medical practitioner that they have a legitimate exemption.
There are currently several venues of concern in the Wollongong area:
- 7-Eleven Dapto: Anyone who attended between 4.55pm and 5.05pm on Saturday, July 17 must get tested immediately and isolate until a negative result is received
- Coles Dapto: Anyone who attended between 1.50pm and 2.10pm on Wednesday, July 14 must get tested immediately and isolate until a negative result is received
- Woolworths Dapto: Anyone who attended between 11.40am and noon on Thursday, July 15 must get tested immediately and isolate until a negative result is received
- BP Fairy Meadow: Anyone who attended between 10am and 10.05am on Thursday, July 15 must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days
- Bubbleberry Wollongong: Anyone who attended between 6pm and 6.05pm on Saturday, July 17 must get tested immediately and isolate until a negative result is received
- Wollongong Dermatology: Anyone who attended between 9.30am and 11am on Thursday, July 15 must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days
- Priceline Dapto: Anyone who attended between 2.15pm and 2.45pm on Friday, July 16 must get tested immediately and isolate until a negative result is received
Some of these venues were known exposure sites two to three days before they were added to the NSW Health list.
Mr Gregory said the contact tracing work took time, and health officials did not want to release incorrect information.
But it was a matter of balancing that with the urgency of finding those potentially affected, he said.
Mr Gregory said a lot of venues were excluded from the list because contact tracers were confident everyone potentially exposed had been found, and sometimes the delay reflected the process of deciding whether a venue needed to be added to the list at all.
But with the more infectious Delta variant, he said, they were tending to err more on the side of caution in adding venues to the list.
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