NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro warned Sunraysia residents to expect more cases as the COVID-19 outbreak in the state’s far west continued to grow on Tuesday.
The cluster in Wilcannia and Broken Hill grew to 43 active cases yesterday, as 14 new cases in Wilcannia were added to the Far West Local Health District’s (FWLHD) tally as part of NSW’s statewide total of 753.
A 15th case previously attributed to Wilcannia was removed, as the person is now in Queensland after being tested in Wilcannia.
A further four cases recorded overnight will be included in Wednesday’s official numbers.
There were still no active cases in the Wentworth or Balranald shires, with two previously listed cases relisted to Wilcannia, where they have been since being infected with the virus.
But when asked if he expected cases to present in those muncipalities, Mr Barilaro said “yes”.
FWLHD chief executive Umit Agis said although “all cases are in isolation” he expected case numbers to keep rising across the district, even in remote towns.
“We are expecting there will be more positive cases announced out at Wilcannia,” he said.
“Menindee has been fortunate to date, as have other areas, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they did have a case there.”
But he said he was “concerned” at low testing turnout in Broken Hill and across the FWLHD, adding that high testing volume would be the key to stamping out the outbreak.
“One of the challenges for us is around the low turnout, because we don’t know how many of them are currently positive and are going about their business, and that is a concern,” Mr Agis said.
“The only way we’re going to be able to determine if there are more positive cases in the community is through testing.”
Speaking to regional media on Tuesday, Mr Barilaro hit back at speculation a backlog of test swabs from Wilcannia were not transported to Broken Hill for analysis over the weekend, telling reporters “we got the advice in time for each day’s reporting period”.
“Over the weekend there was no impact in relation to getting the test results in a timely manner,” he said.
“There was confusion somehow that the contract between health and our partners meant there was a delay – that’s not the case.”
But Mr Agis subsequently admitted there had been a once-off issue retrieving tests from Wilcannia.
“We had one day where the swabs were not brought in, mainly because of a miscommunication with the courier… but we have since fixed that problem,” he said.
Mr Agis said there would be more boots on the ground in Wilcannia this week to help the community through the outbreak, with five Australian Defence Force personnel and five extra police touching down earlier this week, as well as several AUSMAT (Australian Medical Assistance Teams) personnel.
“That will be nurses, doctors and also pharmacists,” Mr Agis said.
“They’ll work in concert with our nurses and in conjunction with RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service).”
The extra help would be put to work trying to get more people in the community of more than 700 people vaccinated, Mr Agis said.
“Last count I had was about 200 had their first dose and about half that number is second dosed,” he said on Monday.
“Our aim is to go in with a large team and go door to door … to get everybody to at least have their first dose by the end of this week.”
Pop-Up COVID testing clinics running daily until further notice
Alma Oval, Broken Hill 8am to 4pm
Wentworth Show Grounds 10am to 4pm
Memorial Oval, Broken Hill 8am to 5pm
Balranald Greenham Park Hall 10am to 4pm
Wilcannia Oval 9am to 4pm
Dareton George Gordon Oval 10am to 4pm
Gol Gol Football Oval 10am to 4pm
Ivanhoe Sports Ground 10am to 4pm
Menindee Oval 10am to 4pm
White Cliffs Sporting Club 10am to 4pm
