Crossroads hotel cluster linked to Victorian outbreak

Another southwestern Sydney pub has been forced to shut its doors after a patron infected with COVID-19 visited over the weekend.

The Macarthur Tavern in Campbelltown is the latest venue to be closed after a person who was carrying the disease paid a visit to the tavern on the evening of Saturday, July 11.

A staff member confirmed the news this morning, saying the patron was a contact of someone who became infected as a result of the Crossroads Hotel cluster.

Those who visited the venue on Saturday are being told they do not need to self-isolate, but to instead get tested and stay home if they develop symptoms.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian praised the “really smart” physician from NSW Health who connected the dots between two separate cases in the community and first linked the outbreak to the Crossroads pub – protecting the state from a catastrophic spike in community transmission.

“I’m not sure if this has been discussed in public but I want to congratulate the really smart physician who found the initial link between two cases in very different suburbs who were then linked to the Crossroads Hotel,” Berejiklian said.

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“That was really smart detective work in a matter of hours who allowed us to then take the action we have. This is the kind of detective work that goes on every day in New South Wales,” she said.

“If you don’t get to one person and that creates a new strain and that pops up somewhere else in a month, that could also result in thousands of new cases.”

Australia has reached a tragic milestone of 10,000 coronavirus cases, with only 4 per cent of cases this week coming from overseas.

Yesterday, 284 new cases were recorded, with close to 44,500 tests conducted in the 24 hour period.

Berejiklian said we have to accept that virus cases will continue to increase.

“Are we going to have more cases as restrictions have eased? Of course we are,” Berejiklian said.

“We need to know we are living with this for a long time, and cumulatively cases will increase,” she said.