Seven Sydney LGAs declared as Commonwealth COVID-19 hotspots
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has declared seven local government areas in Sydney as Commonwealth COVID-19 hotspots.
The hotspot will include the local government areas of City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside and Woollahra.
The Federal Government has offered NSW support and assistance.
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Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has declared several areas in Sydney as Commonwealth COVID hotspots. Nine
The declaration of seven LGAs in Sydney as a federal COVID-19 hotspot will have several consequences.
Extra personal protective equipment will be available for aged care centres, and Professor Kelly said it could also lead to a redistribution of vaccine supplies.
If Sydney enters a full lockdown, COVID support payments could become available, but they would only be triggered after a week.
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Professor Kelly said the decision had been made to declare a Sydney hotspot following the emergence of more unlinked COVID-19 cases.
"NSW have a fantastic contact tracing system, I don't think there's any doubt it's the best in the country," he said.
"But they're chasing unlinked cases now, which makes things more difficult."
Professor Kelly said the school, birthday party, and plane flights from which new cases had emerged were all "very complex" situations.
coronavirus outbreak Sydney NSW Bondi testing site 9News
The new Sydney COVID-19 outbreak has sparked a different response to the previous Northern Beaches one for several reasons, Professor Kelly has said.
"First of all, the Northern Beaches outbreak was not a variant of concern," he said.
"And the Northern Beaches are an insular peninsula, if I can say that – most people who live on the Northern Beaches, stay on the Northern Beaches."
He said the sites of the new outbreak, particularly in Bondi Junction, were places that saw a lot of traffic from different parts of the city.
You can find out more details about how to book your vaccine through the Federal Government health site here.
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