COVID-19: Newcastle Public Health Alert and Mask Recommendation For NSW

A PUBLIC health alert has been issued for three venues in Newcastle and 13 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in New South Wales over the past 24 hours, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian strongly recommending that residents wear masks in certain public areas, starting today.

The Hunter New England Local Health District is urging anyone who has visited the following Newcastle venues at the listed times, to get tested and isolate at home for 14 days, after a confirmed Sydney case visited the venues last week.

• Hotel Jesmond on 29 July from 7pm to 9pm
• Wallsend Diggers on 29 and 30 July between 9pm and 11pm
• Lambton Park Hotel on 30 July from 8pm to 9pm

The Sydney man, was unaware he had the virus and has since returned home.

The venues have now been thoroughly cleaned and there is no ongoing risk however, those who attended the venues after high-risk transmission times are advised to look out for any symptoms and to get tested immediately if symptoms develop.

Yesterday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a recommendation for New South Wales residents to start wearing masks as the State is in a critical phase of the pandemic and “no border is impenetrable”.

“We want us to be on a path where we continue to have a good balance of taking care of the virus, keeping people safe but also obviously going about our daily lives and supporting people into jobs, especially those who have lost their jobs,” said the Premier.

“Dr Chant and I are going to strongly recommend that people wear masks in certain circumstances,” she said.

“I want to stress it’s not compulsory, but it is a strong recommendation from health, given where we are in the pandemic, given the risk posed from Victoria and given the rate of community transmission in New South Wales,” she said.

Four key areas for recommended mask wearing

1. In enclosed spaces with no guaranteed social distancing such as public transport, whilst grocery shopping
2. Staff in customer facing jobs such as hospitality or retail
3. When attending places of worship
4. In areas of high community transmission, or areas with know cases

“When we learned of how critical the situation was in Victoria, we said New South Wales would require extra vigilance over a four to six week period, we are holding the line,” the Premier said.

“I can’t stress enough, the next few weeks will make or break us, in terms of how we get through this pandemic,” said Premier Berejiklian.