Australia’s New South Wales state has recorded its first new case of the coronavirus in 25 days after a woman working at a quarantine hotel in Sydney tested positive.
The woman’s five family members were tested overnight and all returned a negative result for the virus, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported, citing state Health Minister Brad Hazzard.
Australia has largely controlled the spread of community transmission, but health experts say there is no room for complacency due to an ongoing risk of the virus entering the community from returned overseas travelers -- despite a mandatory system of hotel quarantine.
More than 30,000 Australians, many living in Europe and the U.S. where the virus is rampant, are waiting to return home.
Bungled security at quarantine hotels in Victoria, which reportedly included guards sleeping with guests, saw the virus escape into the community -- leading to a three-month lockdown in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, in neighboring South Australia, authorities are investigating how two security guards, a cleaner and two returned travelers contracted the virus while in hotel quarantine -- seeding a cluster of infections in the state capital Adelaide.
