NSW Health has apologised to Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello for giving him incorrect advice about his exposure to a COVID-19 positive cabinet colleague.
Mr Dominello is back in isolation after the department mistakenly told him he no longer needed to quarantine after being in contact with Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall last week at Parliament House.
Mr Marshall was diagnosed with COVID-19 last Thursday after dining at a Paddington pizzeria on the previous Monday.
NSW Health initially determined his proximity to Mr Dominello in parliament, during Question Time, on Tuesday last week, was for an extended period of time, making Mr Dominello a close contact.
Mr Dominello left isolation on Saturday after receiving a negative test result and advice from NSW Health that he had since been classified as a casual contact.
"NSW Health has apologised to Minister Dominello for this error and acknowledges that he was following the health advice we provided to him," NSW Health said in a statement.
He returned to isolation when contacted late on Wednesday by NSW Health to advise that he remained a close contact. An urgent COVID-19 test was performed and he returned a negative result.
Earlier on Wednesday, he attended a press conference with Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant - where he was asked about comments by isolating Deputy Premier John Barilaro who described NSW Health's classification of close contacts of a COVID-19 case as "a lucky dip".
Mr Dominello will remain in isolation until Tuesday and NSW Health says his two negative test results mean he has not posed a risk while in the community.
Meanwhile, more than 100 patients and staff are isolating amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak at two Sydney hospitals after an unvaccinated student nurse worked for five days while infectious.
NSW recorded 22 new local coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, taking the tally for the outbreak that began on June 16 to 171.
All are linked to previous cases, but only 11 were in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period.
However, the state's health authorities are bracing for the possibility of an outbreak in the hospital system, after a student nurse was found to be coronavirus-positive after the 8pm deadline.
