More than 170 locations have been added to New South Wales' list of COVID-19 exposure sites in the last 24 hours as the state battles to keep the virus at bay.
NSW Health last night issued an alert saying authorities had been "notified of a number of new casual contact venues associated with confirmed cases of COVID-19".
Instead of listing the individual locations and times as they have done for the duration of the pandemic, NSW Health instead advised people to check the NSW Government Website for the latest venues of concern.
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https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1422534930194591746"Click the Advanced filter drop arrow at the top of the page and Sort by last updates to see the newest additions. You can also search by exposure date or suburb," the alert said.
The alert could suggest a change in the way NSW Health alerts the public of exposure sites as the number of locations continues to grow at a rapid rate.
Speaking at this morning's COVID-19 briefing, the state's Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the government has "streamlined systems" to deal with the increasing number of exposure sites.
"I think it is reasonable to acknowledge that with the increasing case numbers it has been challenging so systems have had to ramp up," she said.
"I would like to thank the Defence Force for their assistance as part of this, as well as streamlining our systems. Our priority has been getting out those text messages (to contacts).
"I think the most important message, can I just emphasise this, is we are dealing with one of the most challenging times we have ever experienced as a nation."
Premier Gladys Berejiklian defended the fact some sites are added to the official list almost a week after the exposure occurs.
"Sometimes those venues are identified or put up when our contact tracers get additional information from people who are positive," she said.
"So it is really important that when you are contacted you tell our contact tracers everything, that will reduce the time it takes to get in touch with everybody," she said.
In a statement to nine.com.au, NSW Health said both close and casual contact sites continue to be listed on the NSW Health and Government websites.
"NSW Health will continue to list close contact venues in media releases," the statement said.
"Both close and casual contact venues will be published directly to the website where people can filter by last venues updated, exposure date, or an A to Z of locations etc."
The last time NSW Health issued an alert with listed locations and times was Monday August 2.
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There are now over 500 venues of concern in the last two weeks, many of which have multiple exposure times.
In particular, NSW Health has singled out six venues of concern which include:
- Burwood: Mancini's Original Woodfired Pizza
- Glenrose: Woolworths Glenrose Village
- Campsie: Campsie Centre
- Campsie: Campsie Growers Market
- Campsie: T&L Best Meats
- Campsiie: Tong Li Supermarket Campsie including Jia Jia Butcher
Each of the above venues are considered close contact venues and anyone who visited the sites at the times listed by NSW Health must isolate for two weeks regardless of a negative test result.
The full list of exposure sites and times can be found at the NSW Health website.
