New South Wales authorities are warning COVID-19 could be spreading through Sydney's CBD after a man contracted the virus with no links to a known cluster.
NSW recorded nine new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday - seven of the cases are directly linked to a current cluster, and two are under investigation.
One of the two under investigation lives in Northern Beaches, which is currently experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, but the second has no known links to any clusters. It's this case which is causing concern for Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who says new chains of transmission could have been created.
"We still know the virus is circulating in parts of the community - we are concerned about people who may have passed it on through the CBD… it does mean there's potential chains of transmission we're not on top of."
Anyone who has been in the north-eastern part of Sydney’s CBD near the man's office should be on the lookout for symptoms and get tested immediately if symptoms develop.
She urged residents to limit their mobility and keep to the restrictions - and get tested if they develop symptoms, even if they get sick on Christmas Day.
"There will be tests available."
The new cases follow a massive testing effort with Berejiklian saying more than 60,000 people came forward to be tested for the virus in just 24 hours.
"That is beyond outstanding," she said on Thursday.
"I want to thank not just the people who are taking the swabs but the pathologists - I've heard reports of people getting results at 3, 4 in the morning - it's a 24 hour job."
