NSW reports 10 new locally acquired COVID cases as exposure site list grows

New South Wales has reported 10 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total connected to the Bondi cluster to 21.

It comes as the list of exposure sites in Sydney continues to grow, with a Chemist Warehouse and an ANZ branch in the city's CBD now included as venues of concern.

In addition, the state government is extending the mandatory mask wearing provisions for another week and for the entirety of Sydney, meaning anyone in the city must wear a mask on public transport and in indoor settings until 12.01am next Thursday 1 July.

Of the 10 new cases, three were reported in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday, while seven additional cases were discovered after that cut-off time. Those seven will be included formally in tomorrow's numbers.

No new overseas-acquired cases were recorded in the same period, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,465.

Of the three infections reported to 8pm last night two are close contacts of previously reported cases and have been in isolation.

The third is a woman in her 20s from Sydney's eastern suburbs and is linked to the Bondi cluster. Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant says the woman was probably exposed to the virus through fleeting contact at Bondi Junction where she works. 

As such, NSW Health is now asking anyone who was in Westfield Bondi Junction (including the car park) at any time between 12 June and 18 June to get tested for COVID-19.

Of the seven notified to NSW Health since 8pm yesterday, six are household contacts of previous cases who have been in isolation, and one is a child who attends a primary school in the eastern suburbs of the state's capital.

The student attends St Charles' Catholic Primary School Waverley, but Dr Chant says authorities do not have any preliminary information for a source of the child's exposure.

"The school is working with health officials to develop a plan for the children to be discharged home to their parents," says Dr Chant.

"We also want to provide advice and a mechanism to get testing because we want to find out how this child was exposed because cases where we don't understand the acquisition means we've missed cases."

Venues of concern are being identified as investigations continue, and the list of exposure sites is being regularly updated here.

Updated at 11.28am AEST on 22 June 2021.

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