COVID-19 cases in NSW rise to 22

04 March 2020

An additional six confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Sydney this evening brings the total number of positive infections in NSW since the outbreak began to 22.

The new cases include an elderly female resident at a Macquarie Park nursing facility, a female doctor who works at Liverpool Hospital, a female patient from the Northern Beaches, a male from Cronulla and a female who is believed to have returned from the Philippines.

Dr Kerry Chant passed on her sympathy to the family of a 95 year old resident from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge at Macquarie Park who died on Tuesday in hospital and has tested positive to the virus.

“The female doctor who was diagnosed on March 4 had no history of overseas travel. We are immediately establishing which staff and patients may need to self-isolate and be tested for COVID-19 should they be unwell."

A female resident aged in her 70s at Dorothy Henderson Lodge, where a female nurse was diagnosed with the virus, has also tested positive.

A confirmed case, woman in her 60s who arrived back in Australia on March 3, is believed to have returned from the Philippines. Her travel details are being obtained and will be disclosed if she posed a risk to any other passengers on her flight.

More information about the latest cases, a female in her 30s tested at the Northern Beaches Hospital, and a man in his 50s from Cronulla, will be disclosed as soon as their movements are established.

Dr Chant also stressed that a Macquarie University lecturer is a man who has previously been diagnosed having returned from Iran. He is not an additional case today and did not attend the campus after his return from overseas.

NSW Health is continuing to find and respond to cases as they are diagnosed to slow any spread of COVID-19 in the community.