A major horse race with an estimated crowd of more than 2,000 punters will go ahead in Coffs Harbour tomorrow amid detections of COVID-19 in the local sewage.
The CEO of the Coffs Harbour Racing Club, Tim Saladine, said the local health district had confirmed the Coffs Cup was safe to go ahead.
"We have a fairly large police presence and we have over 30 security officers on call, so there will be zero tolerance."
He said the sell-out event and great weather should make for a great day on the track.
Calls to increase testing
The chief executive of the Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD), Stewart Dowrick, did not say whether it consulted with Coffs Cup organisers.
"I encourage all organisations to make their own judgement, their own decision, based upon their own local advice or the advice from public health experts," Mr Dowrick said.
Health authorities are urging Mid North Coast residents to get tested for COVID-19 after fragments of the virus were found in sewage treatment plants in Coffs Harbour and Bonny Hills yesterday.
At this stage, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the local health district, which covers from Woolgoolga, Dorrigo, and to Wauchope.
There have been no sewage detections in samples taken at three other testing sites at Port Macquarie, Dunbogan, and South West Rocks.
Mr Dowrick said sewage testing helps provide an early warning of undetected infections in the region, which hasn't had community transmission of COVID-19 for 460 days.
He said NSW Health is investigating the detection, which could also have been from someone who previously had the illness and is no longer infectious.
As health authorities continue to investigate the local sewage detections, Mr Dowrick has urged those who have COVID-19 symptoms to get tested and remain vigilant.
"We just wish the whole community to continue to work with us in a positive format, which it has now for well over 18 months," he said.
The detections come 16 days after a person from Sydney visited a Coffs Harbour pub while infectious with COVID-19.
The case sparked hundreds of residents queuing for at testing in Coffs Harbour and prompted the opening of a drive-through clinic at the International Stadium.
A drive-through testing clinic at the Lake Cathie Sporting Complex will open from 10am tomorrow.
