The regional New South Wales city of Wagga Wagga is on alert after a person who attended a large funeral last week returned a positive coronavirus test.
The Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) said the person went to the funeral at Chambers Park in Tolland on Friday, November 5, 2021.
MLHD public health director Tracey Oakman said about 300 people, including a large number of Indigenous people, attended the funeral.
"It's always a concern, a large gathering like that," she said.
The MLHD set up a pop-up testing clinic in Tolland on Monday in response to the positive case confirmation and said as of Tuesday no new cases had been linked to the funeral.
Anyone who attended the funeral has been asked to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Ms Oakman said the wider Wagga Wagga community should also remain vigilant.
"If it's a large, outdoor gathering we have no ability to collect QR codes or get people to sign in," she said.
"I'm not sure it will become a superspreader event, but we are concerned."
Large outside gathering
It is not the first time a funeral has sparked concerns about COVID-19 spreading, particularly within Indigenous communities.
A funeral in the western New South Wales town of Wilcannia in August resulted in a major outbreak of the virus in that community.
Ms Oakman said it was a requirement that attendees of the funeral, aged 16 and above were double vaccinated.
The MLHD said in response to the funeral and a positive case connected to a Catholic primary school in the city, it was re-opening a drive-through testing clinic which it closed last week.
