UPDATE 11.30am: Amended contact location details in the Byron Shire have been released by NSW Health. There have been no new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm Thursday night, NSW Health has confirmed. This means there is still just one locally-acquired in Northern NSW resulting from a hen s party which involved a group who travelled to Byron Bay from Queensland. NSW has also recorded no new cases overseas-acquired cases in hotel quarantine. Across the state there were 20,061 tests recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm. This was down from the previous day s statewide total of 20,459. NSW Health thanks the community, particularly those in northern NSW, for coming forward in large numbers for testing, as this is critical to detect and stop transmission of the virus, NSW Health said in a statement.
Premium Content It was meant to be Australia s first major music festival since the pandemic began. The news Bluesfest Byron Bay could not be held this week, delivered on the eve of the first day of music, has likely left a $100 million hole in the local economy. While this year s festival was due to run at half-capacity, director Peter Noble previously said the last event in 2019 put $200 million into the economy. As organisers, music lovers and the array of people who would have worked at Bluesfest come to terms with the news Bluesfest 2021 is, at best, on hold until later in the year, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has expressed enthusiasm that the Sydney Royal Easter Show would proceed this long weekend.
She said his – and the hen’s group’s – use the QR code at the venue was also a critical detail that helped to contain the situation.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the man “immediately did the right thing” when concerns about the venue’s COVID contact were released.
Dr Chant’s Queensland counterpart, Dr Jeannette Young, meanwhile praised the first nurse who was diagnosed in the cluster. People waiting to be tested at the COVID clinic in Byron Central Hospital on Tuesday, March 30.
Genome testing indicated her infection came from a returned traveller from India; he has been at the PA Hospital.