NEW COVID CASE IN THE HUNTER

PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT – COVID-19 CASE CONFIRMED IN PORT STEPHENS

Hunter New England Local Health District is urging anyone who visited the Salamander Bay Shopping Centre on 15 July to watch for COVID-19 symptoms and get tested should any respiratory symptoms or fever occur.

The warning follows confirmation of a COVID-19 case in Port Stephens area. The new case is a man in his 60s, who is now in isolation. The source of infection was a visitor from Sydney.

Anyone in the general Port Stephens area with symptoms of COVID-19 should seek testing.

The Sydney case also visited the Windsor Castle Hotel in East Maitland between 6-8 pm on 13 July. Anyone who visited the hotel during this timeframe, and is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, should seek testing immediately.

“If you were at the Windsor Castle Hotel in East Maitland on the evening of 13 July or Salamander Bay Shopping Centre on 15 July you may be at risk of infection and you must be tested for COVID-19 even if you have the mildest of respiratory symptoms,” said Dr David Durrheim, Public Health Controller for Hunter New England Health’s COVID-19 response.

“Anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat, cough or shortness of breath, is urged to get tested.

“Even those with mild symptoms such as fatigue, new muscle aches or pains, a change in taste or smell or a new runny nose are encouraged to arrange testing,” he said.

Additional staff have been deployed to the nearby Tomaree Community Hospital COVID-19 clinic to increase testing capability. Please call 4964 7497 between 8am to-4pm to make an appointment, or seek a referral from your GP.

COVID-19 testing is also available at Maitland Hospital walk-in clinic, between 9am-4pm, 7 days a week.

Testing is also available through local GP clinics, and at a number of hospitals in the Hunter region. A full list of COVID-19 testing clinics is available here:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/clinics.aspx

It is essential people follow directions they receive about home isolation and quarantine and maintain COVID-safe practices of physical distancing of 1.5 metres, cough or sneeze into their elbow, and regularly wash their hands.