After 11 days with no new instances of community transmission in NSW, three new cases have been uncovered in Sydney. All three are unrelated and from different areas in the city, suggesting that infected, possibly asymptomatic parties are still moving freely around the city spreading the virus. The diagnosis of three new cases puts the planned reopening of NSW’s northern border in jeopardy. Queensland premier Anastacia Palaszczuk had set NSW the target of recording 28 consecutive days with no new instances of community transmission before the border could reopen, which the state had been on track to achieve by November 1.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has appealed to the Queensland premier not to “restart the clock” on the planned reopening of the northern border at a media briefing on October 7. “I say to the Queensland government, I appreciate you will probably come out today and say the 28 days is ticking from the start. Until the end of the pandemic, it is unlikely that NSW will get to 28 days with no community transmission… In NSW, where we are hosting major events, we need the community to be vigilant, but we have to accept that is an element of risk.”
Berejiklian also called for more people in Sydney to come forward for testing, particularly in the newly identified hotspots of Parramatta, Campbelltown and Wollondilly.
These newly diagnosed cases corroborate evidence that had been found in Sydney’s sewerage system suggesting undetected active cases were likely in Southwestern Sydney. “Our suspicions that the virus is always lurking in the community are founded. And we wouldn’t have said that if we didn’t mean it,” Berejiiklian told reporters. “We really need people to come forward and get tested and NSW Health is working with the three positive tests to make sure we have contacted their direct contacts and anybody else that had been exposed.”
In response to questions about whether the Queensland border would reopen as planned, Berejiklian acknowledged that the new cases were of concern, but added, “we have to assume from time to time we are going to have this. We’re always going to have cases pop up because we’re in a pandemic. But we’re also in an economy with is open, where people are undertaking business, where we don't have borders but for Victoria. So we really need to put that into perspective.”