EDWINA BARTHOLOMEW:
In breaking news this morning, students and staff at a Sydney school has been urged to self-isolate after a teacher tested positive. Health authorities are tracking down close contacts from Ryde Secondary College in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading. It comes after a new cluster emerged in the CBD with eight infections linked to the City Tattersalls Club.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, joins me now. Good morning to you Michael. New infections keep popping up across Sydney, is that spread concerning?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes. Clearly, every time we get an outbreak in Sydney, that is causing us concern. It really underscores the importance of people continuing to get tested, not becoming complacent - if you do develop symptoms, please arrange to get tested for COVID-19. It's very important that we are picking up each case that we are able to when we do get an outbreak, move in very swiftly, isolate people, get them tested and also do the contact tracing to make sure that we're not missing people who may be infected and passing infection onto others.
EDWINA BARTHOLOMEW:
Let's go to Victoria, Michael. Daily COVID cases in Victoria continue to drop but 140 cases remain a mystery - those are those really concerning cases. What does it mean for the community if you can't find the source of those infections?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes. So clearly, each day we have a number of cases which are reported where this is no known link to current known outbreaks or to other people who've been infected - that is concerning. But of course contact tracers will work on each of those cases and over the next few days many of those will be a mystery; they'll be cases which have been linked to others.
But where we do have cases which are not linked, what that indicates is that there are undiagnosed cases of COVID-19 which may be someone with very mild symptoms or even with no symptoms at all, but still at risk of transmitting this.
EDWINA BARTHOLOMEW:
Do you think it is safe enough to reopen state borders? Is there a figure in mind of daily case numbers that you can think of that would allow that to happen?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Not at this time. So obviously the decisions about border's the decisions for each of the states and territories. At the moment, while we still have the number of new cases in Victoria in the triple figures, I don't think anybody is looking at opening the borders. I think the numbers would be- need to be much, much lower. We're even seeing of course, with only a handful of cases each day in New South Wales, those borders are remaining closed as well.
EDWINA BARTHOLOMEW:
Alright. Professor Michael Kidd, we know it's a busy time. Thank you for your time this morning.
MICHAEL KIDD:
Thanks, Eddy.
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