(Bloomberg) -- Areas of Sydney have been declared coronavirus outbreak hotspots by a state government, as health authorities fear the second wave of infections in Melbourne has now spread to Australia’s largest city.
The declaration by the Queensland state government means that anyone who has been to the areas of Liverpool and Campbelltown in Sydney’s southwest will need to quarantine in a hotel should they enter Queensland.
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said on Tuesday that 18 people from his state were being tested for the virus after they had visited the Crossroads Hotel in western Sydney. The pub in Casula on the city’s outskirts is a hub for interstate commuters including truck drivers and holiday makers, and is believed to be responsible for facilitating a new outbreak of at least 20 infections within New South Wales state.
Testing the visitors to the hotel was “important because we are seeing continued cases confirmed who attended that hotel and we’ve seen subsequent infections in families and other groups from people who have come into contact with people who went to that hotel,” Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young told reporters in Brisbane.
The outbreak in Sydney has caused the New South Wales state government to announce on Tuesday it would reverse some easing of social-distancing restrictions, with pubs allowed a maximum of 300 patrons regardless of their size and group bookings cut halved to 10.
Victoria state, which accounts for one-quarter of the nation’s economic output, had to reimpose lockdown orders last week as a second wave of Covid-19 sweeps Melbourne. It recorded 177 new coronavirus cases on Monday, less than last week’s peak which triggered a six-week lockdown.
The second wave of infections is dashing Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s hopes that he would be able to help revive a crippled economy by easing most social-distancing restrictions by end-July, after it tumbled into recession in the first half of the year.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
