Port Macquarie-Hastings mayor Peta Pinson is urging the community to get tested after a COVID positive person from Sydney visited the region on September 16.
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The Mid North Coast Local Health District has since been notified of two locally acquired positive COVID cases as a result of the traveller from Sydney.
"I have the unfortunate opportunity to tell our community that we have two locally acquired COVID positive cases in our region," mayor Peta Pinson said.
"This is a result of a visitor who was COVID positive and entered the region on September 16 via a flight into Port Macquarie from Sydney."
There are 20 venues of concern linked to the two Port Macquarie COVID cases.
"We believe the visitor from Sydney stayed at the Ki-ea Apartments and has gone to Bills Fishhouse, spending quite a number of hours there. They also visited property development in the area," mayor Pinson said.
"The close contacts who caught COVID from this visitor are locals and proceeded to go about business throughout Port Macquarie and visited a number of stores. As a result, we may have more infections."
Mayor Pinson is urging the community to get tested.
"We need to see our testing rates up," she said.
"We have done so well until now and unfortunately this visitor has come into our area while infectious. We need to ask the question and find out how this happened."
Mayor Pinson said the Sydney local was in the area to view property and said she will be looking into how this occurred and how the person was able to board a flight and travel to the region.
"I can only imagine that if we have two (positive COVID cases), we will have more.
"I think we will see the impact of this after 14 days and what it means for our region."
The COVID positive traveller has since flown back to Sydney.
"We are concerned about the other passengers on that flight and contact tracing is underway," mayor Pinson said.
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