NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced on Thursday there were no new cases of COVID-19 by community transmission during the latest 24-hour reporting period.
"Pleasingly to 8pm last night, we had zero cases of local community transmission. We had two cases who are in international hotel quarantine," he said. It is the first time there have been zero cases since January 6.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard reports on the number of cases in NSW on Thursday.Credit:James Brickwood
"We had 20,437 tests done. It's slightly less than the day before. It's pleasing it's over 20,000. But again, I have to say in the NSW community, it's absolutely critical that if you have any symptoms whatsoever of a flu or cold-like illness, you come forward and get tested."
He said Thursday's case numbers were "on the face of it, very positive. But it's entirely dependent on the number of cases that come forward. We need people to come forward and be tested. That's the weapon we all have," he said.
Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said there had been 32 million COVID-safe check-ins through the Service NSW custom feature. Three million people had downloaded the app and more than 100,000 businesses had registered customers with the QR code, he said.
But 29 per cent of inspected businesses were still not using the mandatory Service NSW feature, he said.
Mr Hazzard said NSW Health had been in contact with all 10 people from the state who attended the Grand Chancellor in Brisbane since December 29.
"They are all in self-isolation. And being tested. And so, that is being managed appropriately," he said. "The hotel became a cause for concern after multiple people contracted a more contagious strain of COVID-19."
Mr Hazzard also defended the state's current hotel quarantine arrangements, following suggestions that quarantine should be moved to regional facilities.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday that 226 Hotel Grand Chancellor staff had now been contacted, isolated and tested, along with 147 former guests of the hotel - a number she said had been revised down from Wednesday.
She said 406 contacts for a hotel cleaner, whose infection sparked the massive state reaction, and her partner, had now been tested and isolated and none had tested positive.
There were four new hotel quarantine cases in Queensland, none at the Grand Chancellor Hotel.
On Thursday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told breakfast television programs Sunrise and Today that health authorities had been "working overnight and into the wee hours of this morning" to track down everyone in the state who had been to the hotel.
"I do understand a number of people have been contacted," she said. "If anybody does know of a friend or relative who was there, please make sure they have had the test and are isolating for 14 days."
While speaking on Ms Berejiklian said it was important for the community to accept that there would be no way of stopping more virulent strains of COVID-19 from entering Australia via returned travellers.
"This UK strain, as it is called, exists now in over 30 countries. A lot of those countries have Australians waiting to come home. This virus strain is in all likelihood likely to become one of the dominant strains," she said.
She said the reduction in weekly overseas arrivals - from 3000 to 1500 a week - would give NSW time to understand what the new strains were doing and tighten its quarantine system if necessary.
The tightened protocols will also mean some returned travellers with new strains of COVID-19 might have to spend longer than 14 days in quarantine, she said.
"What's really important is making sure that whatever strains emerge ... we keep them confined to hotel quarantine. We don't let them out into the community."
Victoria reported no local cases in the community or in hotel quarantine on Thursday.
Natassia is the education reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
Mary Ward is a health reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2021-01-14 00:13:00Z
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