Coronavirus alert issued for nearly 20,000 Sydney residents after traces of COVID-19 found in sewerage
Nearly 20,000 residents in Sydney's west and north-west are being urged to immediately get tested for COVID-19 as fragments of the potentially deadly virus emerges in sewerage.
Authorities are concerned about undetected mystery cases circulating within the community.
The main suburbs identified by NSW Health include Rouse Hill, North Kellyville, Box Hill, the Ponds, Kellyville Ridge, Parklea, Quakers Hill and Acacia Gardens.
NSW Health has issued an alert for Rouse Hill and its surrounding suburbs. Facebook
A pop-up clinic will open from 8am today in the carpark of The Fiddler pub in Rouse Hill, with residents able to sit in their cars while they are tested for the virus. No booking is needed.
Anyone experiencing the mildest of coronavirus symptoms – including a runny nose, sore throat, , cough, tiredness or fever – are being urged to get tested.
The warning comes after virus fragments were found through the state's ongoing sewage surveillance program.
While detection of the virus in sewage samples could be older cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in these areas, NSW Health is concerned there could be other active cases in the community in people who might incorrectly assume their symptoms are simply a cold.
A pop-up testing clinic is now open at Rouse Hill, in Sydney's north-west, as virus fragment are found in sewerage. AP
After testing, you must remain in isolation until a negative result is received which usually takes a day or so.
The only way to find new cases and prevent further transmission is to increase testing, NSW Health says.
Yesterday NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for the fourth day in a row.
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