Covid 19 coronavirus: 11 new cases recorded in New South Wales

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard. Photo / Getty Images

There have been 11 new cases in total in NSW overnight.

Six of those were locally transmitted, while five were cases in people already in hotel quarantine, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said during a media conference this morning.

Two were locally acquired, and the source was under investigation.

Three of the new locally acquired cases are linked to the Lakemba GP cluster, which now has 15 cases. All three cases are household contacts of known cases. Contact tracing and investigations into the source of the cluster continue.

One case still under investigation, announced yesterday but included in today's numbers, lives in the Bargo area of south western Sydney. Another new case is a household contact of this case.

The other new case still under investigation lives in south east Sydney. Close contacts of this case are isolating and being tested. The investigation into the source of the infection is continuing and contact tracing is underway.

Hazzard urged anyone with symptoms to come forward for testing, and warned people were "not necessarily telling us the truth" when speaking with contact tracers.

He was referring to the superspreader truckie who sensationally covered up his stop in Shepparton, sparking a Covid-19 cluster in the Victorian regional city.

That outbreak could have implications for NSW as well, as it is part of the NSW-Victorian bubble.

The outbreak sent shockwaves through the community and residents flocking to testing sites before dawn today.

"One of the ongoing problems that public health has had in New South Wales but also in Victoria, is that people are not necessarily telling us the whole truth and nothing but the truth," Hazzard said.

"Public health only has one interest and that is making sure that you remain healthy but also that the community maintains its health in the fight, against Covid-19."

NSW has reported six new cases of locally transmitted #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

Five cases in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine were also diagnosed, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 4,132. pic.twitter.com/luMFadcmo1

— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) October 15, 2020