• New South Wales recorded 10 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing Sydney’s growing northern beaches cluster to 28 cases in total.
• The outbreak threatens to scuttle holiday plans, with Western Australia already imposing quarantine restrictions.
• Tasmania meanwhile has shut to anyone who visited the Northern Beaches council area since December 11 while Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and the Northern Territory have asked people from the area to quarantine for 14 days.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

An emerging cluster of coronavirus cases in Sydney’s northern beaches is throwing Christmas travel plans into disarray.

The New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Friday that 10 new cases had been identified, after cautioning residents to “brace themselves” as the states rushes to get on top of the outbreak.

“If we get on top of this in the next two or three days, all of us will be able to have a much better Christmas but if we don’t get on top of it in the next few days, it could mean further restrictions down the track,” Berejiklian told media on Friday.

She urged people from Greater Sydney to be on alert, to wear face masks on public transport and to limit non-essential travel.

“I am absolutely concerned, as we all should be. This is a critical and concerning situation given the number of cases we have and the concentration of cases,” Berejiklian said.

Today queues emerged at testing facilities near the Northern Beaches as residents were urged to get checked.

While so far limited to Sydney’s north, the cluster is already impacting Australians all over the country as they gear up for the Christmas break and begin travelling interstate.

Western Australia has already imposed a 14-day quarantine requirement on anyone from New South Wales, while Tasmania has done so for anyone who visited the Northern Beaches from December 11.

Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and the Northern Territory meanwhile have asked anyone who has visited the area to quarantine for 14 days.

While New South Wales has managed to largely suppress the coronavirus, this latest outbreak comes as many workers begin their holidays.

The Premier confirmed on Friday that the source of the strain was international and not from the local community. She has requested that anyone from the Northern Beaches stay at home for three days.

“We will know during the course of the day whether we need to do anything more than that,” Berejiklian told the Today show on Friday. “But certainly can I tell you that the situation is being monitored hourly and of course if we need to do more, we will.”

“We’re taking this extremely seriously. We want to get on top of it as soon as we can, to give people as normal a Christmas as possible.”

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