NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is forced into Covid isolation

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NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is self-isolating at his home after visiting a bakery at the same time as a positive Covid case.

Mr Perrottet was at District Brasserie in the Chifley complex in the Sydney CBD on Friday April 30 between 11am and 12 noon, at the same time as the man in his 50s separately visited the venue.

Mr Perrottet has tested negative but will isolate at home for 14 days in case he develops symptoms.  

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Health authorities revealed on Wednesday the man in his 50s tested positive to the virus after visiting a range of venues in the CBD, inner west and the North Shore. 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and health boss Dr Kerry Chant said the infected man had a ‘high viral load’ and was potentially highly infectious while in the community. 

He visited a busy Woolworths supermarket, several BBQ shops, a golf club, a cinema and many cafes and restaurants between Friday April 30 and Tuesday May 4.

‘Our job now is to get on top of it to identify any other potential cases, to identify the source and make sure we get on top of this case,’ Ms Berejiklian said.

There are now 19 ‘venues of concern’ across the city from Double Bay in the east, to Collaroy in the north, and Silverwater in the west. 

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Dr Chant said the man had a higher viral load than typically seen in infected people, increasing the likelihood that he spread the disease to others.  

More than 42,000 people in the inner west have also been put on high alert after virus fragments were found in wastewater from a sewage plant.

Affected suburbs include Marrickville Dulwich Hill, Summer Hill, Lewisham, Ashfield, Haberfield, Petersham, Lilyfield and Leichhardt.

NSW Health urged everyone in those areas to be especially vigilant in monitoring for symptoms, and if they appeared, to get tested and isolate immediately until a negative result is received.

Experts said genome sequencing had begun and authorities were urgently notifying the man’s close contacts and advising them to get tested and isolate – with one of his household contacts already testing negative.

The Covid-positive man visited a Bondi Junction cinema and several shops while infectious in what was described as a ‘very active’ weekend.

All customers of every business listed have been told to isolate immediately and seek urgent testing, including a busy Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse in Double Bay, a golf club in Rose Bay, and a series of cafes in Moore Park.

They must continue to isolate, regardless of their test results, until more information emerges.

The positive test result sent shockwaves through the city because the man had not returned from overseas, does not work in border control, health care or at a quarantine facility.

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But it has since emerged that one business he went to, a HineSight optometrist at 1pm on April 30 in Sydney’s CBD, is located below Sofitel Wentworth – which is being used as a quarantine hotel for returning overseas travellers.

The optometrist has its own street-facing entrance, but it is still part of the same building, pointing to a potential way the man became infected.

On Friday night he attended a screening of The Courier at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction.

He then dined at Figo Restaurant in Rushcutters Bay from 8.45pm to 11pm.

On Saturday, the man went to barbecue shops across the city – in Silverwater, Annandale and Casula.

On Sunday he visited a butcher in Bondi Junction, while on Monday he spent several hours at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park, and on Tuesday he visited cafes, a Woolworths and a Chemist Warehouse in Double Bay.

Ms Berejiklian said the Covid-infected man ‘did everything right’ and thanked him for checking in everywhere he went through the Service NSW app.

Meanwhile, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said all Sunshine State residents must quarantine at home if they’ve been to a venue in Sydney connected to a Covid-19 case, and take a test first thing on Thursday morning.

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‘NSW Health has already made it clear that anyone who has been to any of those venues, should be quarantining, and not getting on flights,’ Dr Young said.

‘We’re working closely to get a better understanding of the risk associated with this case, so as an interim measure, we’re mirroring NSW Health’s advice.

‘This advice applies to everyone, including those people who may have been partially or fully vaccinated.’

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