Goulburn Mulwaree Council is hopeful that a positive COVID case will not spread into the community.
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General manager Warwick Bennett told The Post that health authorities had advised the Fairfield man who tested positive to COVID did not circulate in Goulburn or surrounds.
The contract painter was working while infectious at the city's hospital redevelopment on Friday, July 9, NSW Health reported. He has been in isolation since Saturday, July 10.
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Mr Bennett said he was advised that on Friday the man had travelled in a car from Sydney to Goulburn and return with three other men, who were also painters working on the hospital.
"He was pretty well working on his own in a section of the hospital," he said.
"He never went anywhere in Goulburn and to our knowledge he never left the hospital. That's what he's told health authorities. We are very hopeful he didn't have close contact with other contractors on the site."
The three other men had returned negative COVID tests.
The hospital worksite has been closed until all workers return a negative result. Many of them turned up for testing at clinics on Tuesday.
The Southern NSW Local Health District reported later that day that the hospital was open and operating unaffected and that no other exposure sites in Goulburn had been identified.
Marulan's Hungry Jacks was closed for deep cleaning on Tuesday after a removalist passing through from Melbourne to Sydney on Saturday, July 10 tested positive on his return to Sydney.
Anyone who attended the venue between 5pm and 5.30pm that day is considered a casual contact, must undergo testing and self isolate until a negative test is returned, NSW Health advises.
"If your date of exposure at this venue occurred in last four days, you must get another test on day five from the date of exposure," the website stated on Tuesday.
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Meantime, Mr Bennett said the council was satisfied that Premier Gladys Berejiklian had taken its concerns on board about 'essential workers' from Sydney COVID hotspots travelling to the regions.
Mayor Bob Kirk questioned whether a hospital painter was essential and said locals could have been sourced for the job.
"The Premier has made some changes and we feel we've been listened to," Mr Bennett said.
"We believe we just need to keep working with the state government on this. There will always be an issue over what is an essential worker but that is the State's domain."
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