COVID-19 Restrictions May Return In Australia's New South West Over New Cluster - Minister

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2020) The authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales have warned the residents of Sydney about the possible return of coronavirus-related quarantine measures as a new cluster associated with one of the city's hotels emerged, New South Wales Police and Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said on Monday.

According to the state's health authorities, on Monday, 14 new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in New South Wales over the past 24 hours. Five of the new patients were infected after visiting the Crossroads Hotel in Sydney's Casula suburb, and another three are contacts of cases who were at the hotel.

"I only recently, only few minutes ago, was briefed that another 177 cases [were detected] in Victoria. If that occurs in New South Wales, we will have to continue to look at what restrictions need to be reintroduced and that would be devastating, particularly to the hospitality industry," Elliott said, as broadcast by Sky news Australia.

Australia has so far confirmed 9,797 COVID-19 cases, including 108 related fatalities. Meanwhile, a total of 7,728 people have fully recovered from the disease. The state of Victoria is the leader in terms of the number of infections, with 3,799 confirmed cases and 24 fatalities.