St. Francis Xavier’s College in Hamilton will be closed

St. Francis Xavier’s College in Hamilton will be closed for cleaning tomorrow after a student tested positive for #COVID19 tonight.

A third case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Newcastle. He is a male teenager who is a household contact of the teenager announced yesterday and the man in his 20s announced earlier today.

HNE Health is continuing to investigate the source of infection for all three cases.

Anyone who attended St Francis Xavier’s College (Hamilton East) on Monday 3, Tuesday 4, and Wednesday 5 August is urged to be on the lookout for COVID-19 symptoms and get tested immediately should any respiratory symptoms or fever occur.

The school has been notified and will be closed for cleaning. Contact tracing is underway.

All close contacts of the teenager are being notified and are required to seek testing and isolate for 14 days, regardless of their test result.

Hunter New England Health is still working to identify any further contacts or venues visited by the teenager, and additional updates will be provided as more information becomes available. All close contacts will be notified and required to isolate for 14 days.

The source of infection of the Newcastle family cluster is still unknown, so it is vital people in the community continue to present for testing if experiencing symptoms to limit the spread of the virus.

I urge everyone to follow the directions they receive about home isolation and quarantine, and maintain COVID-safe practices of physical distancing, coughing or sneezing into their elbow, and regularly washing their hands.

Hunter New England Health continues to operate a number of COVID-19 clinics in the Hunter region.

For a complete list of COVID-19 testing clinics and booking details, please visit http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/clinics.aspx