Wednesday, 10pm, Bondi: Hundreds of cars snake around the drive-thru testing ...

Wednesday, 10pm, Bondi: Hundreds of cars snake around the drive-thru testing ...
Wednesday, 10pm, Bondi: Hundreds of cars snake around the drive-thru testing ...

A picture showing hundreds of cars at a drive-thru testing site in Bondi on Wednesday at 10pm has sparked Karl Stefanovic to say 'it was the moment Sydney finally got it'.

New South Wales recorded 16 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to 36. 

The health service issued alerts for new exposure sites at venues in Darlinghurst, Double Bay, Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction, Narellan, Meadowbank and the Sydney CBD.

The photograph showed cars queueing outside St Vincent's testing centre on Bondi Beach after Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that 40,000 people had been tested in just one day. 

On Thursday morning Today Show host Karl said: 'This was the moment Sydney got it.

'At 10pm last night in Bondi, queues as far as the eye could see.' 

The traffic jams to get tested reached more than a kilometre long with health authorities expecting similar queues on Thursday. 

Covid cases are on the rise in Sydney with sources saying Thursday will bring 'big numbers' (pictured, a couple in mandatory masks in Manly)

Covid cases are on the rise in Sydney with sources saying Thursday will bring 'big numbers' (pictured, a couple in mandatory masks in Manly)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is in isolation after returning from the G7 meeting in the UK, has said he was not surprised by the latest outbreak in Australia's most populous city. 

Five of the cases announced yesterday cases were from the Bondi testing clinic. 

Authorities have warned to brace for more positive test results on Thursday and are encouraging as many people as possible to come forward and get tested. 

A raft of new restrictions were announced for Sydney residents on Wednesday.    

Residents who live or work in the City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside, and Woollahra local government areas cannot travel outside the metropolitan area unless it's absolutely essential.

Masks must also be worn indoors including to gym classes, which are now limited to 20 people.

Hundreds of cars have snaked their way from Bondi testing clinic as the city's Covid outbreak grows to 36 cases prompting Today host Karl Stefanovic to say Sydney siders have

Hundreds of cars have snaked their way from Bondi testing clinic as the city's Covid outbreak grows to 36 cases prompting Today host Karl Stefanovic to say Sydney siders have 'got it'

Eight of the 13 additional cases were at a birthday party attended by about 30 people in West Hoxton on Saturday, which NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant described as a 'super-spreader event'.

Concerns are growing that millions of Sydneysiders could soon be forced to completely lock down as the highly infectious Indian strain of Covid continues to spread across the city, with mixed messages coming from those close to Gladys Berejiklian.  

The virus has even spread into NSW Parliament with Health Minister Brad Hazzard and four other MPs are in isolation after being close contacts of Agriculture Minister, Adam Marshall, who has tested positive to Covid. 

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard is in isloation (pictured) after being exposed to the virus

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard is in isloation (pictured) after being exposed to the virus

Mr Marshall contracted the virus after dining at Christo's Pizza in Paddington on Monday night with Nationals colleagues Trevor Khan, Steph Cooke and Ben Franklin.

The four MPs were present in parliament on Tuesday afternoon after attending a partyroom meeting on Tuesday morning.

'This morning just after 8am I was formally advised by NSW Health that I had returned a positive test for COVID-19,' Mr Marshall said in a statement on Thursday.

'I have been in isolation in Sydney since late Tuesday night, when I received a text message from NSW Health,' he said.

The parliament will operate on a skeleton staff on Thursday with just enough MPs to pass the budget before it's suspended.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard also revealed he is self isolating after being exposed to a potential case at parliament house.

Mr Hazzard admitted it 'was likely' other MPs could be affected and told Channel Nine he stands next to Premier Gladys Berejiklian every day. 

Sources close to the Berejiklian government have hinted that Thursday will see 'big numbers' of new infections, with Sydneysiders ordered not to leave the city.

Lockdown-happy premiers in other states including Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland have already slammed their borders shut, disrupting school holiday plans for thousands. 

Ms Berejiklian, who has always strived to take a measured approach to outbreaks, has so far stood firm by refusing to lock down Sydney, instead bringing in a number of restrictions including limits of five visitors to a household and mandatory masks.

But in the face of a growing number of cases, senior health source admitted to Daily Mail Australia that the trend of infections is 'not good'.

When asked about a potential lockdown, the source said: 'It certainly looks like that's where we are heading.'

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured on Wednesday) has so far managed to fend off a lockdown, instead bringing in restrictions including limited visitors to the home and mandatory masks - even in offices

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured on Wednesday) has so far managed to fend off a lockdown, instead bringing in restrictions including limited visitors to the home and mandatory masks - even in offices

Four new mystery infections have contributed to widespread speculation that the city will be locked down by the end of the week, with sources telling the ABC and 7 News such restrictions could be imminent with a big spike in cases to be announced.

The Indian variant is so contagious that two people in Bondi this week caught Covid by momentarily brushing past each other.

While other premiers have locked down state capitals after just two cases, Ms Berejiklian has always tried to strike a balance between public health and economic and mental wellbeing.

But she conceded that approach may have to change if cases begin to spiral out of control, particularly those not linked to known outbreaks. 

'We have always said we will not burden our citizens unless we absolutely have to,' she said on Wednesday.

'If we need to take further action within the week or after the week, we are open to that.'

Her close ally NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has rubbished claims that a lockdown is imminent, saying they have 'zero' truth to them.

'No plan to lockdown contrary to reports this evening,' Mr Hazzard told news.com.au on Wednesday night.

'Measures implemented this afternoon are proportionate and appropriate. Reports of a lockdown are greatly exaggerated.'

Those who live and work in seven hotspot suburbs will not be allowed to leave metropolitan Sydney unless they have an essential reason

Those who live and work in seven hotspot suburbs will not be allowed to leave metropolitan Sydney unless they have an essential reason

On Wednesday evening, NSW Health added 12 stores, a busy bus route and three train lines to the burgeoning list of exposure sites in the city. Pictured: Passengers at Sydney Domestic Airport

On Wednesday evening, NSW Health added 12 stores, a busy bus route and three train lines to the burgeoning list of exposure sites in the city. Pictured: Passengers at Sydney Domestic Airport

Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised the NSW's premier's approach.

'She hasn't gone to lock down Australia's biggest city,' he said.

'But has taken the positive decision to keep Sydney and NSW open for its residents and to continue to rely on what is Australia's best contact tracing system.' 

The outbreak has forced Ms Berejiklian to bring in new restrictions, including banning people from metropolitan Sydney from leaving the city, but she stopped short of shutting down businesses. 

Her interstate counterparts were quick to slam their borders shut to residents amid the latest outbreak, ruining travel plans for many over the school holidays, which begin on Friday.

Queensland's premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has rushed to declare all of Sydney a Covid-19 hotspot, slamming the borders shut to millions.

Lockdown-happy premiers in other states including Western Australia , Victoria and Queensland have already slammed their borders shut, disrupting school holiday plans for thousands (inset, the Sydney suburbs deemed 'hotspots')

Lockdown-happy premiers in other states including Western Australia , Victoria and Queensland have already slammed their borders shut, disrupting school holiday plans for thousands (inset, the Sydney suburbs deemed 'hotspots')

The move came after draconian moves by Western Australia and South Australia, which have shut the border to the entire of New South Wales.

In Victoria, people from seven local government areas are banned from the state - City of Sydney, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick.

The majority of the 16 new cases stem from a birthday party on Saturday in West Hoxton, in western Sydney, which included an infected Bondi Junction Westfield worker.

The man in his 30s was not suffering any symptoms at the time, but was tested the next day when they developed and received a positive result on Monday.

Passengers are seen lining up to check in at Sydney Domestic Airport on Wednesday as states rushed to shut their borders

Passengers are seen lining up to check in at Sydney Domestic Airport on Wednesday as states rushed to shut their borders

All party attendees were ordered into self-isolation, with eight partygoers who came forward for testing on Tuesday found to have contracted the virus.

This includes a two-year-old child who attended Little Zak's childcare in Narellan Vale, near Campbelltown, on Monday.   

NSW Health added 12 stores, a busy bus route and three train lines to the burgeoning list of exposure sites in the city late on Wednesday evening.

New venues included three eastern suburbs supermarkets, a TAFE building in Meadowbank, and an office building on Pitt Street in the CBD. 

NEW COVID-19 RULES FOR GREATER SYDNEY 

From 4pm Wednesday for one week: 

Visitors to households will be limited to five guests – including children;

Masks will be compulsory in all indoor non-residential settings, including workplaces, and at organised outdoor events;

Drinking while standing at indoor venues will not be allowed;

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