Four new COVID-19 exposure sites in Melbourne revealed as travellers turned back from Qld

Three Melburnians have been turned back at Gold Coast Airport after jetting in from the COVID-19 hotspot. It comes as Victoria records three new cases including a three-year-old.

Three Melburnians have been turned back at Gold Coast Airport after jetting in from the COVID-19 hotspot.

The trio at were put on return flights to the Victorian capital on Saturday after being refused entry to Queensland by police.

They are the first turned around since Greater Melbourne officially became a hotspot at 1am on Saturday after the city’s latest COVID-19 outbreak, which has plunged the southern city into a five-day lockdown.

It comes as Victoria recorded three new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, with two cases acquired locally and one in hotel quarantine who caught the virus overseas. Four new exposure sites have also been listed including a Woolworths, bakery and swimming pools.

Among the new cases is a three-year-old child. Her mother could also be a potential case after returning three different test results in 24 hours. A woman from a separate household is the other locally-acquired case.

Both the local cases revealed on Sunday were linked to the Holiday Inn cluster, which now totals at 16 cases

Testing commander Jeroen Weimar said medical experts were working to ascertain whether the infected child’s mother was at the beginning or end of her infectious period.

Queensland Police have launched a border blitz to crack down on travellers from the Victorian capital, who must go into self-funded hotel quarantine or be refused entry.

Gold Coast police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said officers screened more than 3500 passengers arriving at Coolangatta airport on Saturday.

Three were turned around and another 14 were ordered into hotel quarantine.

Police are also patrolling roads into Queensland, using number plate recognition technology to intercept drivers suspected of having come from Melbourne.

There are no plans to reinstate dreaded border checkpoints at this stage but police have said they can be set up within 24 hours if needed.

Queensland recorded no new cases overnight, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Sunday confirming the state had seven active cases.

There are now 22 active cases in Victoria.

The three new cases in Victoria emerged following 21,475 tests, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services said.

The state recorded one locally acquired case on Saturday.

Four new locations have been added to the list of COVID-19 exposure sites in Victoria.

The Department of Health and Human Services said on Sunday four places had been classified after being visited by a potentially infectious COVID-positive person.

The sites include a Woolworths, two swimming centres and a bakery.

The new tier one exposure sites and times are:

• Elite Swimming Pascoe Vale, Pascoe Vale, on February 8 between 5pm and 6pm
• Woolworths Broadmeadows Central, Broadmeadows, on February 9 between 12.15pm and 12.30pm
• Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses, Broadmeadows, on February 9 between 12.30pm and 12.45pm
• Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre, Pascoe Vale, on February 10 between 4pm and 7.30pm

Anyone who has visited those exposure sites during the listed times must immediately isolate, get tested and remain isolated for 14 days.

It comes as Victoria enters its second day of a five-day hard lockdown described by Premier Daniel Andrews as a “circuit-breaker”.

There are now almost 40 tier 1 exposure sites in Melbourne, with locations in Albert Park, Brighton, Broadmeadows, Brandon Park, Clayton South, Coburg, Glenroy, Glen Waverley, Heatherton, Hoppers Crossing, Keysborough, Maidstone, Melbourne Airport, Moorabbin Airport, Pascoe Vale, Springvale, Sunbury, Sunshine, and Taylors Lakes.

Former Australian Medical Association Dr Tony Bartone says what unfolds in the next couple of days will be crucial.

“With the number of exposure sites increasing day by day with the number of cases – even though small – and the contacts from those cases increasing, so we’ve now got primary contacts and secondary contacts well in excess of thousands of people being in that contact tracing net, we are really very much at the results of the testing over the next few days,” Dr Bartone told the Nine Network on Sunday.

“That will inform how we go.”

The full list is here. 

As part of the lockdown, Victorians are only be allowed to leave their homes for the following reasons: essential supplies, care and caregiving and exercise and essential work.

Exercise and shopping is limited to five kilometres from Victorians’ homes.

Exercise is allowed for two hours a day with household members, your partner, or one other person who is not from your household.

Masks must be worn everywhere except in your own homes and no visitors are allowed in homes with the exception of intimate partners.

Public gatherings are not permitted.

Mr Andrews said that if you can work from home, then you must.

Schools will close but will remain available over three days — Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday — for vulnerable children.

Child care and early childhood centres remain open.

Places of worship are closed. Religious gatherings and ceremonies are not permitted. Funerals can involve no more than 10 people for both indoor or outdoor settings. Weddings are not permitted unless on compassionate grounds.

There will be no crowds at the Australian Open.

Originally published as Four new COVID-19 exposure sites in Melbourne revealed as travellers turned back from Qld