COVID-19 Update | One new locally acquired case

Six cases were also recorded in returned travellers, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,852.

There were 20,664 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day's total of 14,738.

Of the seven new cases reported to 8pm last night:

Genomic testing on the case diagnosed with COVID-19 after presenting to the Mount Druitt Emergency Department on Saturday shows that this case is linked to the Berala cluster. Investigations are continuing to establish how the infection could have been acquired.

Contacts of these cases have been tested and are all negative to date. Further contact tracing and testing is underway.

NSW Health would like to thank everyone who has come forward for testing, and continues to urges everyone in the state who has even mild cold- or flu-like symptoms such as a cough, sore throat, headache, fever, or a runny nose to isolate immediately and be tested.

A new venue of concern visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19 was reported in a public health alert issued last night.

Anyone who attended the following venue at the listed time is considered a casual contact and must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received:

The Groomsmen Barber Shop, Warriewood Square, 12 Jacksons Rd, Warriewood, on Wednesday 6 January between 11.30am and 12pm

NSW Health continues to provide new and updated information on venues that are associated locally acquired cases. Please check the NSW Government website and follow the health advice if you were at any of these locations at the times listed.

There are more than 350 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW, many of which are open seven days a week. To find your nearest clinic visit https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/how-to-protect-yourself-and-others/clinics or contact your GP.

The state's ongoing sewage surveillance program has detected fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 at the treatment plant in West Hornsby. This catchment takes in the suburbs of Glenorie, Wahroonga, Thornleigh, Pennant Hills, Cherrybrook, Castle Holl, Galston, Dural, Westleigh, Glenhaven, Waitara, Hornsby, Normanhurst, West Pennant Hills. Everyone in these areas is asked to be alert for symptoms, to get tested immediately if they appear and then isolate until they receive a negative result.

The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage may reflect the presence of known cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in recent weeks in the areas served by this sewage treatment plant. However, NSW Health is concerned there could be other active cases in the local community in people who have not been tested and who might incorrectly assume their symptoms are just a cold.

NSW Health is treating 131 COVID-19 cases, one of whom is in intensive care. This patient requires a ventilator. Most cases (98 per cent) are being treated in non-acute, out-of-hospital care, including returned travellers in the Special Health Accommodation.