Fourteen new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8.00pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 3,479.
Four of the new cases attended the following funeral and related church services in south western Sydney between 16 and 19 July. Everyone who attended these events is now considered a close contact and must isolate, get tested for COVID-19 regardless of any symptoms, and continue to self-isolate for 14 days even if the test is negative. If symptoms develop get tested again. Testing is available at COVID clinics and through GPs across the state, including at Fairfield Hospital and Fisher Street carpark, Cabramatta drive-through clinic.
The services attended were:
There were 25,139 tests reported in the 24-hour reporting period, compared with the record 30,535 in the previous 24 hours.
Of the remaining ten new cases reported to 8pm last night:
There were no new cases today linked to the Crossroads Hotel or the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club. There are now 56 cases associated with the Crossroads Hotel cluster, 67 cases associated with the Thai Rock restaurant (including 11 associated with Our Lady of Lebanon Church), and eight cases associated with the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club.
While most cases have been linked to known clusters, community transmission continues and NSW Health is calling on people across the state to redouble their efforts to stop the virus spreading.
Key messages for the community are:
A full list of COVID-19 testing clinics is available and people can visit their GP.
If people have been directed to undertake a 14-day self-isolation period, they must stay in isolation for the full period, even if they undertake a test that comes back negative. This is because early testing may not detect an infection, and release from self-isolation based on a negative test could allow an infectious person to infect others in the community. The self-isolation period is 14 days as most people who are infected and develop symptoms will develop symptoms within 14 days of infection.
People who work in high-risk settings such as healthcare facilities or aged care homes must not attend work if they have symptoms and must get tested immediately. People should also not visit relatives in these settings if they have even the mildest of symptoms or have recently returned from Victoria or attended affected venues.
There are 99 COVID-19 cases being treated by NSW Health, with four in intensive care. One is being ventilated and on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). In NSW, 2,799 people are known to have recovered from COVID-19.
Counts reported for a particular day may vary over time with ongoing enhanced surveillance activities.
Watch the video update.