Coronavirus: Sydney woman tests positive after visiting same cafe as infected man

Photo credit: Getty Images

A woman in Sydney has tested positive for COVID-19 after she visited the same cafe as a man who recently contracted the virus.

The 70-year-old went to Belle Café in Vaucluse, an eastern suburb of the city, which was one of the exposure sites announced on Wednesday that was visited by the infected man, 9News reports. She sought a test on Wednesday morning after she became symptomatic.

She is the third person in the past 24 hours to test positive for COVID-19 in Sydney. A second case was discovered earlier on Thursday in Sydney's eastern suburb of Bondi.

New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard says Thursday's cases are a reminder to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

"You can't hide from what's happening in the world. As soon as your turn comes, go and get vaccinated," he says.

He urges people in Sydney's eastern suburbs to wear masks and take extra precautions to help stop the spread of the virus.

"We've already heard that one 70-year-old lady happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and got the virus. That could happen to any one of us. Take it seriously."

NSW Health says it has contacted more than 700 people who are getting tested and are self-isolating. All household members of these contacts are also required to self-isolate until the contact receives a negative test result.

Several new locations of interest have also been released by health officials. These include Belle Cafe, a design store, and a park in eastern Sydney. A full list of locations of interest can be found here.

Anyone who is symptomatic, even if they have the mildest of cold-like symptoms, is urged to get tested for COVID-19 and isolate until they get a negative result.

Police are still investigating how the limousine driver, who was the first identified case in this recent outbreak, contracted the virus.

He transports international flight crews and isn't vaccinated. Authorities are trying to determine if he was wearing a mask while working.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian won't "jump to conclusions" about whether a hotel quarantine breach was involved in the driver's infection.

Police say the state's hotel quarantine system remains "robust".

"I'm confident that as we move through the investigation in this particular incident that we will patch up those areas where we think we can better protect not just people inside that system but the people who work in that system and the people of NSW," Deputy Commissioner Gary Warboys says.

In NSW, over 1.7 million total doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been given. This number includes both first and second doses administered. There have been 16,425 doses given in the past 24 hours.

Contact Newshub with your story tips:
news@newshub.co.nz