With rumours in circulation about the origins of the two new positive cases of COVID-19 recorded in the Shoalhaven, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro could not provide any further details about the cases, apologising for the delay in official confirmation.
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The South Coast Register asked Mr Barilaro whether he could provide any further details at all about the two new COVID-19 cases recorded in the Shoalhaven, including the origin of the cases and venues of concern.
Mr Barilaro said he could not provide any further details.
"(Rumours are) normal in small regional communities, that's what happens," Mr Barilaro said in Friday's regional COVID-19 briefing, September 3.
"All I've heard is that both cases are under investigation. I'll reach out to NSW Health to see if there's anything new. My staff...will take note and we'll send you the information as soon as possible."
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Mr Barilaro stressed that he did not want to name businesses without having official confirmation from NSW Health due to risking their reputation.
"On a local level, you'll probably hear stuff before we do. But at this stage (the two cases) are both under investigation as soon as we get further information," he said.
Mr Barilaro also apologised for the delay in venues of concern being released after cases are recorded.
"You need to be able to get that information in a timely manner. And I apologise that that's not happening," he said.
"But I get concerned sometimes when I'm reporting cases, and then the next day, we have to pull them back to that fine line, or whether we have enough information to say something.
"When it comes to naming businesses, it's about reputational damage, they want to be 100% sure about an exposure. But I accept the frustration, and let's see if we can do better."
Another 1431 cases were added in NSW, with a dozen deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm Thursday.
The Illawarra Shoalhaven local health district recorded 13 new COVID cases, down from yesterday's record number of 22.
Nine were recorded in Wollongong, two in Shellharbour and the other two in the Shoalhaven.
The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District has not confirmed any new exposure sites for the Shoalhaven at the time of publishing this article.
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