SYDNEY, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Locally acquired COVID-19 cases increased in Australia's largest city of Sydney after a man tested positive on Wednesday.
The state of New South Wales, with Sydney as the capital city, recorded two local cases in the 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. local time Wednesday night and one case in returned travellers from 23,145 tests conducted.
The two cases included a man and a household contact of him. The man in his 60s works as a limo driver for international airline crew. It is understood that the man has not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Besides these two cases, another two cases would be included in Friday's official statistics, including a woman in her 70s who attended a close contact venue and a man in his 40s who is not yet linked to any active cases.
NSW Health is undertaking urgent investigations into the source of all new locally acquired infections.
The health authority is concerned as it was confirmed that the first local case of the latest outbreak, the limo driver in his 60s, was carrying the more contagious Delta strain of COVID-19.
NSW Health has listed 19 exposure sites as of Thursday and urged people who have passed through them to get tested and self-isolate. In response, a pop-up clinic will open on Thursday in southeast Sydney with other testing sites around Sydney extending their hours.
"Everyone needs to be on extra high alert, particularly in the eastern suburbs... If you have been at any of those exposure sites you should be at home self-isolating," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told the press.
Meanwhile, in the state of Queensland, health authorities have urged anyone who has been to the exposure sites in Sydney to not travel, and anyone who has returned to Queensland from Sydney to self-quarantine.
"We will be closely monitoring the situation in NSW over coming days," Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said on Wednesday night.
According to the latest statistics to 8:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, a total of 631,896 vaccine doses have been administered in NSW, with a total of 5,440 recorded cases of COVID-19 since January 2020.
