NSW Health has firmly quashed reports of a positive COVID-19 case in Bathurst, blaming a data entry error for the panic.
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A metropolitan news site reported on Wednesday afternoon that a COVID case had been found in the Bathurst local government area after it was listed on NSW Health's Local COVID-19 transmission and sewage surveillance detection map.
But a single call to the Western NSW Local Health District has put the Bathurst region in the clear, with a spokesperson saying the region had been listed by mistake.
"There are no COVID cases in Bathurst," the spokesperson said.
"There was a data entry error made in Sydney and someone put in the wrong postcode.
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"We definitely don't have a case in this region, nor across the Western NSW Local Health District.
"NSW Health is working now to update the website, though it might take an hour or so for the changes to appear."
The spokesperson said current COVID restrictions across regional NSW, including the mandatory wearing of masks in all indoor non-residential settings, had been extended to July 30 in line with an extended lockdown for Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour.
She urged Bathurst residents to keep coming forward for COVID testing with even the mildest of symptoms.
Meanwhile, Bathurst Regional Council general manager David Sherley confirmed council is continuing to monitor local sewage for traces of COVID-19.
Mr Sherley said the weekly testing began last year and is ongoing.
"The last sample we sent off for testing was on July 6 and it came back negative on July 8," Mr Sherley said.
"All residents should continue adhering to the Public Health Orders that are in place but there are currently no cases of COVID in Bathurst."
