Staff and several cancer patients at a Sydney hospital have tested positive for COVID-19 as the stricken city continues to battle a particularly aggressive outbreak of the virus.
New South Wales' ongoing crisis reached new - and "disturbing" - heights on Monday after a staggering 478 people tested positive for COVID-19, state Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced. Eight confirmed cases also died, including a 15-year-old boy who tested positive for the virus after being hospitalised with pneumococcal meningitis - which was ultimately the cause of his death.
On Tuesday, it was reported that five people at St George Hospital in the southern suburb of Kogarah had tested positive for COVID-19 on August 13 and 14, three of whom were patients on oncology ward 7A, a South Eastern Sydney Local Health District spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.
The additional two cases are staff members, both of whom are fully vaccinated, the spokesperson said.
Two of the three patients who tested positive have received one dose of a vaccine, while the remaining patient has not been vaccinated.
"As a precautionary measure the hospital is treating all patients on the ward as close contacts and has implemented additional infection control procedures on the ward to maintain the health and safety of patients," the spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.
The hospital is now asking patients who were on the wards during the affected patients' infectious periods to get tested and isolate.
Staff who worked on the wards are also being contacted and assessed.
St George Hospital is one of the latest locations to be impacted by New South Wales' spiralling outbreak, fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Since June 16, 56 COVID-related fatalities have been confirmed in the state, with almost 400 people currently being treated for the virus in hospital - 66 of whom are in intensive care and 28 requiring ventilation.
"We can't stress enough how hard all of us have to work to reduce these numbers, to reduce the growth of the spread and make sure we are all staying home unless we absolutely have to otherwise," Premier Berejiklian said on Monday.
Meanwhile, several other states are grappling with their own outbreaks, with the ACT recording 19 new cases, including an aged-care worker and a high school student, on Monday. The state's snap lockdown was due to end on Thursday - however, local media understand it will be extended to at least September 2.
In Victoria, 22 locally-acquired cases were reported on Monday, with the local government imposing a two-week curfew from 9pm to 5am on Melburnians in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
And the Northern Territory entered a snap lockdown on Monday after a new case, a man who had quarantined in Sydney, was detected in the community. It's assumed he is carrying the Delta variant.
