Covid 19 coronavirus NSW outbreak: 'Hundreds and hundreds' will have to isolate

A New South Wales MP warns 'hundreds and hundreds' of people will have to isolate after a coronavirus cluster was detected at a venue on the south coast. Photo / 123rf

A New South Wales MP warns "hundreds and hundreds" of people will have to isolate after a coronavirus cluster was detected at a venue in his home town of Batemans Bay on the south coast of the Australian state.

NSW Health has ordered anyone who visited the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club on July 13, 15, 16 or 17 to quarantine for 14 days after eight coronavirus cases were linked to the venue.

"This is obviously devastating news to our community and we have to make sure everybody isolates, everybody gets tested and stick to the critical rules that are there to keep us safe," Transport Minister Andrew Constance told Nine's Today.

"The advice is hundreds and hundreds of people who attended the Soldiers Club last week will have to go into isolation," Constance said.

"They need to stay at home. We have seen eight cases associated with the club. This is obviously devastating news to our community and we have to make sure everybody isolates, everybody gets tested and stick to the critical rules that are there to keep us safe."

Constance said Batemans Bay was home to a large retiree population so it was crucial people followed the directions.

"It is not a case of going to the pub because you feel like a beer or going to the shops," he said. "You have to go home, stay home and stay home for 14 days and that's the best thing we can do to stamp it out and ring fence it around Batemans Bay."

Crowds packed onto the beachfront at Bondi on Sunday, despite rising Covid cases in NSW. Photo / Damian Shaw /News Corp Australia

He added there were concerns that many of the people who visited the club were visitors who then travelled further afield.

New South Wales is set to introduce even tougher restrictions for travellers looking to cross the border with Victoria.

Under new permits that come into effect at midnight on Tuesday, people living along the border in Victoria and NSW will only be able to enter the other state for work and school, and to get medical care and essential supplies.

All current permits will expire and new ones will be issued in line with the new rules.

NSW residents who travel into Victoria beyond the border zone will have to self-quarantine for 14 days upon return. NSW residents are urged not to travel into Victoria.

"The growing rates of community transmission in Victoria have us on high alert and the health advice clearly indicates we need to have stricter border closures in place, making it harder to get a permit and easier to cancel them," NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said on Sunday.

The new measures also include a new border zone along the Murray River.