An aged care facility in Cootamundra was forced to enact emergency measures after a woman from the Greater Sydney region visited their facility over the weekend.
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"The person misled us as to their address, and we discovered that the person came from Greater Sydney," CEO of Adina Care, Graeme Sloane, said.
"I reported the breach to Crime Stoppers, to NSW Police. The police were able to confirm the person had come from the Central Coast."
A NSW Police spokesperson said an investigation into the woman was now complete, and following inquiries, "the woman was issued a formal warning on compassionate grounds."
When the breach was first discovered, all staff who had escorted the woman through the building were sent home to get a COVID test and self-isolate. Visitors who were present at the time were also directed to get a test.
Everyone has since returned a negative test result, including the woman from Greater Sydney.
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"We only need one breach for it to get out, and the only way to stop those breaches is for everybody to be vigilant," Mr Sloane said, urging everyone to follow the health advice and adhere to the rules.
Prior to this incident, Adina Care already had a number of safety measures in place, including a QR code check-in and temperature check for visitors, as well as mandatory mask wearing and flu vaccinations.
Now, the nursing home will also require visitors to show photo ID as a proof of address.
"People are entitled to refuse to show us, and if they refuse we'll refuse entry," Mr Sloane said, adding that there are measures in place for compassionate reasons people may need to visit that will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
He congratulated all his staff for their hard work during this time, as well as the community for their "understanding and cooperation", acknowledging that "99 per cent of people are doing the right thing".
Meanwhile, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys has warned those in lockdown across Greater Sydney that anyone trying to escape to regional areas will be stopped by police.
Officers across the northern, southern and western region of Sydney will be monitoring the "major arterial roads" out of Sydney this weekend, as well as airports and public transport venues.
"We've spoken a lot about people moving outside of Greater Sydney and trying to disguise that in some sort of business trip when it's really a holiday; trying to provide police with excuses as to why they're found outside of Greater Sydney and they have a caravan that they're towing or camping gear with them," the Deputy Commissioner said on Friday.
"If people want to travel outside of the Greater Sydney area they will be stopped by police.
"If they're not stopped by police, the local communities will dob them in and we encourage that. They will be investigated [and] where appropriate, issued personal infringement notices and they will be returned or directed back to Sydney."
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