Another COVID case at Bathurst Correctional Centre, nine in total

Deputy chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale revealed the new figure during the 11am press conference on Wednesday, adding that cases in prisons continue to be of concern.

"Clearly we are concerned about prisons as a setting for spread. We know that often we have vulnerable populations who are in prisons, we know the conditions in prisons often are conducive to the spread of communicable diseases generally and there has been a lot of work done in the sector since the beginning of the pandemic to have plans to reduce the risk," she said.

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She also responded to questions about the Parklea Correctional Centre outbreak, confirming that it was not responsible for the cases in Bathurst's facility.

"In terms of Bathurst, we are aware, separately, of cases in the Bathurst Correctional Centre. There are nine cases, all in staff members, in Bathurst, so at a smaller scale to Parklea, but nonetheless concerning and again a lot of effort going in locally to make sure that staff and inmates in the Bathurst Correctional Centre are being tested, that infection control processes are in place, and vaccination coverage is high," Dr Gale said.

READ ALSO: Health authorities want triple current COVID-19 testing numbers

A Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network (the Network) spokesperson said efforts are being made to prevent further transmission.

"The Network, CSNSW (Corrective Services NSW) and YJNSW (Youth Justice NSW) are testing for COVID-19, isolating cases and contact tracing to detect and isolate close contacts to prevent further transmission," they said.

"We are also working together to roll out rapid antigen testing (RAT) across NSW prisons, youth justice centres and police cells to give us a fast and effective way of identifying potential cases."

Regarding vaccines, the spokesperson said 41.3 per cent of CSNSW staff are fully vaccinated and 53.5 per cent have had one dose.

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