New warning as Covid clusters move closer

As you may have heard, there are four confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Port Stephens area. Three have been linked to the first and all of those people are now isolated.

Not unexpectedly I'm getting a lot of inquiries from people concerned about the clusters in Sydney and Port Stephens. I have spoken to Hunter Health again this morning and can tell you:

* There are currently no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Lake Macquarie electorate.

* If anyone from the area visited Woolworths at Salamander Bay on July 19 or The Fingal Bay Cafe on July 17, they should consider being tested if they show any symptoms.

* We do not have a mobile testing facility in western Lake Macquarie because there is no local cluster at the moment and such resources are obviously better placed in other areas.

* IF we have a confirmed case or cluster in the local area, a testing clinic at Toronto is ready to be opened within hours of it being needed.

* The best advice I can provide remains the same: use common sense if you're out and about and avoid those people who clearly have none, socially distance, regularly wash your hands, avoid large crowds and stay safe.

* I also want to say thanks, again, to all our local health agencies and workers. We knew these clusters would continue to appear for some time but our health experts have so far been all over them and have prevented the types of things we're seeing in Victoria and overseas.