Riverina communities are on alert as new cases emerge and sewage surveillance detected the virus that causes COVID-19 in two more of the region's towns.
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NSW Health's data reveals two new detections of COVID-19 were made in two of the region's local government areas [LGAs] in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday.
Four more have been found overnight, the MLHD confirmed on Thursday morning.
The MLHD has also moved to allay fears of further exposure sites in the MIA following the detection of a positive case at the weekend.
It was announced on Sunday that a new case had been detected in Griffith, in a resident from outside the district.
They are no longer in the MLHD.
"The [MLHD] can confirm there are no new locations of concern associated with a person who tested positive to COVID-19 in Griffith," a statement issued on Thursday said.
IN OTHER NEWS
"One case is a resident of the Edward River LGA, is a household contact of a previously confirmed case and has been in isolation," the MLHD said in a statement.
"The second case is a resident of the Albury LGA and remains under investigation."
Three more COVID patients have been identified in the Albury LGA and one in the Greater Hume overnight and will be reported in the official figures on Friday, MLHD said.
Sewage surveillance has also returned positive results for fragments of the virus in treatment plants at Jerilderie, in the southern Riverina, and Lake Cargelligo, in the north-west.
Earlier in the week, the West Wyalong waste was also revealed to have COVID fragments, prompting the MLHD to urge people to come forward for testing.
A prominent Albury nightspot was listed as a casual contact venue on Wednesday afternoon, covering a six-hour window on a Friday night.
Anyone who was at Zed Bar in Dean Street between 5.30pm and 11.15pm on October 8 is considered a casual contact and must get tested immediately.
Testing is available in the following locations:
- Albury: Dorevitch Pathology, Lavington Hall, corner Urana Road and Hague Street, 9am to 5pm daily
- Albury: Douglass Hanly Moir clinic, Albury Showgrounds, entry via Fallon Street, 8am to 1pm Monday to Saturday
- Wagga Equex Centre drive-thru clinic (entry via Copland Street), open 7 days from 1pm to 6pm, no appointment necessary.
- Wagga Laverty Pathology drive-through site, Riverina Playhouse car park, Tarcutta Street via Cross Street, 8am to 4pm Monday to Thursday, 8am to 3pm Friday, 8am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday
- Wagga Murray Street clinic, 84 - 86 Murray Street (between the pharmacy and the Australian Red Cross), open 7 days from 9am to 6pm, no appointment necessary
Further testing locations can be found at mlhd.health.nsw.gov.au or by calling the Murrumbidgee COVID-19 hotline on 1800 831 099.
The Riverina cases form part of the 406 local transmissions in NSW announced on Thursday.
Six more people have died from COVID-19 - three women and three men from greater Sydney, Wollongong and the Nepean area.
THE INTERSTATE, TRANS-TASMAN SITUATION
Of the 406 cases, dozens have been found in the state's regional areas.
As well as the two cases in the MLHD, 24 were discovered in the Nepean Blue Mountains, 22 in the Illawarra Shoalhaven, 18 on the Central Coast, eight in Western NSW, three each on the Mid North Coast and Northern NSW, two in Southern NSW and one in the Far West LHD.
There is a total of 50 cases reported in the MLHD since the start of the current outbreak and one death.
Including 25 in Hilltops LGA, ten in Albury LGA, nine in Edward River LGA, two in Wagga Wagga LGA, one in Griffith LGA, one in Federation LGA, one in Murray River LGA and one in the Berrigan LGA.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC
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