A coronavirus cluster on Sydney's northern beaches has jumped to 28 people, with authorities saying they've sourced the infection back to a US strain which may have entered Australia in early December.
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International air crew arriving in NSW, meanwhile, will from Tuesday be placed under police-supervised quarantine arrangements at two hotels until their departing flight.
NSW recorded 15 new local cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, while another case connected to the northern beaches was uncovered in a person who had since travelled to Queensland.
Another 10 people were confirmed virus-positive after 8pm on Thursday, all of whom connected to the northern beaches.
Two cases on the northern beaches had been confirmed in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday.
The peninsula has entered a quasi-lockdown, with NSW Health asking residents to stay home and not leave the area for the next three days. Aged care facilities in the area have been shut to visitors.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Friday implored northern beaches residents to only leave home for essential reasons over the next few days.
Health authorities on Thursday night used genomic sequencing to track the outbreak of the cluster to a US strain of the virus, which may have entered NSW in early December in a returned traveller.
That traveller remains in hotel quarantine, meaning the connection between that case and the northern beaches remains unclear.
"The harder all of us work together, the better Christmas we'll have," Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Friday.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed to reporters on Friday that a major COVID-19 seeding event had occurred at Avalon RSL on December 11, followed by a similarly significant seeding event at Avalon Bowlo on December 13.
Of the 28-strong cluster, eight people in the cluster were in attendance at Avalon RSL, 16 were at Avalon Bowlo and two were at both. The final two cases were also connected to those venues.
Ms Berejiklian said that from Tuesday all international air crew arriving in Sydney would be held at two quarantine hotels until their flight back out of the country, typically within 72 hours.
Ms Berejiklian admitted airlines were currently in charge of ensuring air crew quarantine compliance, but NSW Police would from Tuesday take over.
"The issue is not the guidelines we have in place, it is unfortunately a few occasions where people breached the guidelines or actually chose not to self-isolate when they should have," Ms Berejiklian said.
"The systems themselves are not been a challenge but it has been people disobeying what is in place."
Australian Associated Press
