New coronavirus alerts have been issued for venues in the popular NSW holiday town of Byron Bay after two positive cases of COVID-19 from Brisbane visited the area last week.
The list of venues considered high risk now include:
- Suffolk Beach front Holiday Park communal toilets on March 26 from 6pm-6:30pm and 27 March 2021 from 3:20pm – 3:50pm
- Mokha Cafe in Byron Bay on March 27 from 10:30am to 11:30am
- The Farm in Byron Bay on March 28 from 8:45am to 10:3am
- Byron Beach Hotel on March 26 from 7Pm to 9pm
Anyone who visited the venues during the stipulated times are considered close contacts and must get tested immediately and isolate for two weeks, regardless of a positive result.
A further six locations have been listed as casual contact venues. Anyone who has visited the following stores have been told to immediately self-isolate and get tested regardless of symptoms, and stay in isolation until a negative result is received:
- Ghanda Clothing on March 27 from 12:00pm to 12:15pm
- Tiger Lily on March 27 fom 12:25pm to 12:30pm
- Black Sheep on March 27 from 12:30pm to 12:40pm
- Quicksilver on March 27 from 12:40 to 12:45
- Suffolk Bakery on March 27 from 2:45 to 3:!5pm
- Park Hotel Bottle Shop on March 27 from 7:30pm to 7:45pm
More than 1400 people in NSW have already been told to isolate immediately after two Queenslanders infected with the highly-contagious UK strain visited the holiday hotspot.
NSW’s Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said 1321 people who signed into the Byron Bay Hotel on Friday March 26 between 2pm and 8.30pm have been contacted and told to isolate.
A further 166 people who visited The Farm in Byron Bay on Sunday March 28 between 8am to 9.30am have also been contacted.
Dr Chant said health authorities were taking a “wide time span” for both venues for the sake of alerting people as quickly as possible.
The two cases are a Brisbane nurse from The Royal Alexandra Hospital and her daughter who travelled to the NSW resort town from March 26 to 28.
There have not been any new local cases in NSW since the Brisbane outbreak, but authorities are contacting people who recently arrived from the state.
NSW Health is now advising people against non-essential travel to the Greater Brisbane area.