A coronavirus cluster linked to a Sydney nurse who unwittingly worked while infectious has expanded further with several new positive cases and hundreds potentially exposed.
There were eight new cases reported on Friday linked to the nurse. These cases are in addition to one other linked case previously announced, bringing the total cluster number to 10.
Four of the newly infected people, plus the nurse, are either healthcare or aged care workers, NSW Health said in an update on Friday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the department incorrectly gave the number of infected healthcare or aged care workers as nine.
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READ NOW“The majority of these healthcare or aged care workers are linked by social or household contact, not via the workplace,” NSW Health said in the update.
Four of the five people had worked while infectious.
More than 390 staff and patients who had been identified as close contacts, meaning they will need to self-isolate for 14 days and get tested for coronavirus.
The female student nurse in her 20s worked shifts at Fairfield and Royal North Shore hospitals between June 24 and 28, before finding out she had the virus.
Health officials are still investigating how she got the virus and whether other people have been infected as well.
“The importance of those individuals coming forward to test with initial case coming forward to testing, that allowed us to identify rapidly nine additional cases across three interconnected households, and then prevents those further chains of transmission,” NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said on Friday.
“So please, anyone who has the most minimal of symptoms, please come forward and get tested.”
There were a total of 31 new cases announced on Friday, including those linked to the nurse.