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UPDATE: 11.45am AEST 21 June 2021: NSW Health has since been notified of two new locally acquired cases overnight, bringing the latest cluster to 11 cases. The two new cases will be included in tomorrow's numbers.
A cluster of locally acquired COVID-19 infections in Sydney has grown to 11 cases over the weekend while Queensland is on alert after a confirmed case was active in the community following two weeks of hotel quarantine.
NSW Health formally reported two new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 yesterday, plus two more confirmed infections that were discovered after 8pm on 19 June and will be included in today's numbers.
Of the locally acquired cases, one is a man in his 30s who lives in Sydney and attended Westfield Bondi Junction and spent time in Wollongong, and the second is a household contact of the man.
The two cases which were notified to NSW Health after 8pm on Saturday 19 June are both close contacts of previously reported cases and have been in isolation.
As such, NSW Health has upgraded advice for anyone who was in Westfield Bondi Junction (including the car park) on June 12 and June 13. Now, anyone who was in that location at any stage on those days must get tested for COVID-19.
NSW Health has also expanded the list of venues of concern to include a number of stores at the Birkenhead Point Brand Outlet in Drummoyne and a fitness centre in Castle Hill. The total list of venues with public health alerts can be found here.
Mandatory mask wearing requirements in Greater Sydney have also been extended to Wollongong, and those in Sydney must now wear a mask indoors in retail settings, entertainment facilities, places of worship and residential aged care facilities.
Movement of latest QLD case disclosed
Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young today explained the movements of a COVID-19 case who was in the community whilst infectious after completing two weeks of hotel quarantine.
The case, who arrived in Australia on an Emirates flight from Portugal, tested positive for COVID-19 on day 14 of quarantine but had already left the facility before the test result came through.
In that period of time the case went shopping at the DFO next to Brisbane Airport for 30 minutes and specifically visited the Cotton On store on 19 June.
After that she went into the Brisbane CBD for about an hour from 5pm, before visiting the Brisbane Portuguese Family Centre in the southwestern suburbs of Brisbane from 7pm.
Dr Young says she is not concerned about the time the infected person spent in the community as she has the Alpha variant of COVID-19 (previously known as the UK variant), rather than the more infectious Delta variant.
"The good thing out of all of this though is that we know that the lady who came from Portugal has the B117, or the Alpha variant," says Dr Young.
"It is contagious, but it is not as contagious as the Delta variant that we're not seeing circulate in parts of Sydney.
Dr Young confirmed the latest case must have been infected either in hotel quarantine or on the way from the airport, as the individual they caught COVID-19 from was not on the same flight into Brisbane.
Updated at 9.55am AEST on 21 June 2021.
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