Upper Hunter residents have been urged to be vigilant for symptoms like a runny nose, sore throat, cough or shortness of breath, after one of the region's workers was found to be infectious while working at Mt Pleasant Coal mine and in the community yesterday.
Hunter New England Health has updated its local exposure sites to include the Prince of Wales Tavern bottle shop at Muswellbrook between 6.25pm and 6.30pm on Thursday, September 2, and Southside Newsagency at Muswellbrook between 11am and 11.20am on Friday, September 3.
⚠️ New exposure sites (Muswellbrook)
— HNE Health (@HNEHealth) September 8, 2021
▪ Prince of Wales Tavern (Bottle Shop), Muswellbrook
on Thursday 2 September from 6.25pm - 6.30pm
▪ TSG (Southside Newsagency), Muswellbrook
on Friday 3 September from 11.10am - 11.20am pic.twitter.com/9nfk2P2H0t
In a statement, Hunter New England Health's Dr David Durrheim said the Upper Hunter had been relatively spared in the latest COVID-19 outbreak, but this new exposure could trigger a number of new exposure sites.
"We are concerned that there are going to be a number of risk sites - venues where people have been potentially exposed," Dr Durrheim said.
"The response that is necessary in the Upper Hunter if we don't want to further spread of the virus in our community is that we don't ignore even the most trivial of symptoms."
Anyone who experiences a cough, sore throat, fever, change in taste or smell, or shortness of breath has been urged to seek a test and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Hunter New England Health has also updated its list of casual contact exposure sites overnight to include:
Woolworths Nelson Bay: Saturday, September 4, between 4pm and 10pm.
Coles at Salamander Bay: Saturday, August 28, between 4.40pm and 5pm.
Subway at Cameron Park: Wednesday, September 1, between 10.20am and 10.30am.
Darby Kebab and Pide, Cooks Hill: Thursday, August 31, between 10:10pm and 10:30pm
Chemistworks, Glendale: Saturday, September 4, between 3.45pm and 3.55pm, and 4.20pm and 4.25pm.
Thornton Post and News, Thornton Shopping Centre: Monday, August 30, between 3.10pm and 3.15pm, and 3.25pm to 3.45pm.
Anyone who has visited these venues during the casual contact exposure has been urged to seek a test and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to deliver an update on the state's COVID-19 situation, including a revision to lockdowns in regional NSW, later today.
