Four new cases recorded; mask and social gathering restrictions return
Popular Melbourne eateries are among the latest coronavirus exposure sites as the northern suburbs coronavirus cluster swells to nine.
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The northern suburbs coronavirus cluster has grown to nine, with four new cases of the virus detected in the community on Tuesday.
The new cases bring the total number of cases from the Whittlesea cluster to nine.
They are all family contacts of the fifth case announced this morning.
The Department of Health has identified 168 primary close contacts related to exposure sites. So far, 84 people have tested negative.
From the Bundoora Swim School exposure site, 39 contacts have been identified, of which 24 have returned a negative result.
A McDonald’s in Clifton Hill and a CBD restaurant are the latest exposure sites to be identified by the Department of Health.
A positive case dined at the Bamboo House restaurant on Little Bourke Street in Melbourne between 11am and 11.50am on Friday May 21.
A day later, on Saturday May 22, a case ate at the Clifton Hill McDonald’s on 199 Queens Parade between 6pm and 7pm.
Both sites have been deemed a Tier 1 exposure site, meaning those in attendance at the same time must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from exposure.
A positive case also shopped at the Preston South Aldi, located at 15 Dundas Street, between 3.45pm and 4.25pm on Sunday May 23. That site is being treated as a Tier 2 site, meaning shoppers in the venue at the same time must get tested urgently and isolate until they get a negative result.
One of the five confirmed cases attended Broadmeadows Hospital on 21 May, the Department revealed on Tuesday afternoon.
This site has been deemed one of a number of “small, private or closed exposure sites” being managed by the Department.
37 Primary Close Contacts are linked to the hospital and 26 have so far returned a negative result.
A small workplace linked to Case 1 contains four primary close contacts, of which three have so far returned a negative result.
More than 170,000 SMS alerts have been sent to people in Epping and Reservoir urging them to monitor for symptoms and check exposure sites.
Twenty-six testing sites will be open with extended hours today.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said it wasn’t clear how this particular virus variant, believed to be of Indian origin, compared to the UK strain.
“It’s clearly infectious, but the same principles apply,” he told ABC.
Professor Sutton said the current restrictions – due to come into effect from 6pm tonight – were “sensible and proportionate” given the circumstances.
He said the nine cases were currently limited to three households, adding that private residences were often the most at-risk environments.
“That doesn’t necessarily require a lockdown … of course we’re going to review this every day,” he said.
RESTRICTIONS REVEALED AS NZ SHUTS BORDER
It comes as New Zealand prepares to slam its border with Victoria shut for three days, from 8pm on Tuesday night, it has been revealed.
The snap closure comes as restrictions on gatherings and the reintroduction of masks have been announced for greater Melbourne as a fifth case of local transmission was confirmed overnight.
The new restrictions enforced from 6pm Tuesday are:
• Limit of five people at private gatherings; 30 people in public gatherings;
• Face masks must be worn indoors.
There are no restrictions on Melburnians visiting regional Victoria, but restrictions will travel with them, Health Minister Martin Foley said.
“For example, if you visit someone outside metropolitan Melbourne, they must have not more than five visitors at that house in that day,” he said.
“Victorians visiting regional Victoria from Melbourne will also need to wear a face mask when indoors, even when outside metropolitan Melbourne, unless an exemption applies.”
Restrictions are expected to last until at least Friday, June 4, chief health officer Brett Sutton said.
It is not clear what the restrictions mean for events including the AFL.
Workplaces will remain open and there are no changes to bars and restaurant capacity.
Schools remain open, but anyone aged 12 and over, including high-schoolers, must wear a mask.
Regular density limits apply on weddings and funerals at public venues and masks must be worn indoors, but the new capacity limits apply to ceremonies if held at a private home.
Additional advice on crowd limits at sporting and cultural events, including AFL matches, are yet to be clarified.
A fifth case, a man in his 60s, was announced on Tuesday morning after four infections were reported on Monday.
The new case is linked to the City of Whittlesea outbreak and the man is isolating, along with his household contacts.
The man reported being symptomatic before case No.1 reported symptoms, giving authorities hope he could be the missing link they were searching for.
“The man had an appointment with case one … the man in his 30s. He was symptomatic at the time of that appointment and the transmission probably occurred on the 18th,” Prof Sutton said.
The new cases are believed to be the Indian strain of the virus.
“The Indian one is at least as infectious as other variants of concern,” Prof Sutton said.
“It’s by no means one to be complacent about.”
Mr Foley said wastewater analysis helped identify this cluster.
“It told us where the potential case was in Whittlesea, and that catchment, and yesterday we confirmed that,” he said.
Health authorities also explained the rationale behind the reintroduced restrictions.
“These restrictions are in place as a precautionary measure,” Prof Sutton said.
“We know that doing what we need to do will save us in the long run. The easiest measure is to wear a mask.
“All those other behaviours that we talk about, being tested and isolating will do most of the heavy lifting here.”
BORDER RESTRICTIONS: NSW, QLD, SA, WA REACT TO VICTORIA CASE
Western Australia is tightening its restrictions on travellers from Victoria but has stopped short of slamming its border shut after more cases of coronavirus were detected in the eastern state.
From 6pm on Tuesday, all Victorian arrivals to Western Australia must be tested straight away, or within 48 hours, and self-quarantine until they return a negative result.
“I hope this additional testing regime is all we have to do ... (but) we won’t hesitate to put in place additional border controls if that is what the health advice recommends,” Premier Mark McGowan said on Tuesday.
It comes as Queensland has also declared the City of Whittlesea local government area - where the outbreak in Melbourne is centred - a hotspot.
From 1am Wednesday anyone arriving from Queensland from that area must go into hotel quarantine unless they have a valid exemption.
All arrivals from Victoria into Queensland must complete a border pass from Thursday at 1am.
“This is a concerning and disruptive situation,” Mr McGowan said.
“We hope they bring this outbreak back under control as soon as possible.”
HIGHPOINT EXPOSURE SITE DOWNGRADED
Highpoint shopping centre has been downgraded to a Tier 2 exposure site, with the exception of a number of stores.
The Department of Health revealed the infected shopper/s visited Ishka, Toyword, Smiggle, Kidstuff and Lush.
These stores are all still classified as Tier 1 sites, meaning that anyone who visited must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from May 20.
All other areas on levels two and three of Highpoint Shopping Centre, apart from the specific listed stores, are now being treated as a Tier 2 site.
That means anyone who visited Highpoint on Thursday night May 20 must urgently get tested and isolate until returning a negative result.
VACCINATION HUBS QUIET DESPITE LATEST OUTBREAK
There were no queues for the jab at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre vaccination hub, despite Melbourne’s latest outbreak scare.
With or without a booking, people walked straight into the hub to receive their AstraZeneca shot.
Amahl Weereratne, 51, said he was surprised at how quickly it took for him to get the vaccine.
“There was a little line to get to the desk but the whole process took about 3 minutes,” he said.
He said he feels a sense of relief after getting the vaccine.
“I feel good about it ,I feel happy to get, it actually feels like a historical moment, it is like saying you had the vaccine for the Spanish Flu,” he said.
“I feel so lucky to be in Australia, we complain that you have to wear a mask inside now, but that’s a small price to pay to keep the community safe.”
Mardi Farrant was told by the immuniser who administered her jab that the hub would be offering the Pfizer vaccine to under 50s tomorrow.
“He said ‘bring your boys in because they are offering the Pfizer vaccine to under 50s from tomorrow,” she said.
“I said ‘I’ve got three sons who are 27, 25, 17 should I bring them in?’ and he said ‘absolutely’.”
Royal Melbourne Hospital staff on site did not confirm or deny whether these details were correct.
MASSIVE QUEUES FOR Covid TESTS
Wait times at some testing sites, including Victoria University’s St Albans campus, have blown out to three hours.
Health authorities also suspended testing at Northern Hospital after the queue reached capacity at 9.30am on Tuesday.
“We’re full at the moment,” a testing worker told frustrated motorists as they entered the carpark.
By 10.30am, cars were lined up on Cooper St, outside the hospital carpark, for hundreds of metres.
Health authorities continued to turn cars away, posting a sign at the carpark entrance reading “Covid testing temporarily suspended”.
“This is the fourth place I’ve been to this morning,” one woman said. “I’ve been up since 8am.”
Authorities directed people to other testing sites across Melbourne.
One man said he had been waiting in line for an hour but “it was the right thing to do” after visiting one of the exposure sites.
“I’m missing out on work but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he said.
There is a 2½-hour wait at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and a two-hour delay at the Melbourne Showgrounds, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Hume City Council and La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus.
Victorians have been warned that more cases could be discovered as the government works to contain the outbreak.
It had been 86 days since the most recent case of community transmission was recorded in the state.
SUTTON DEFENDS WOOLWORTHS CONTACT TRACING BUNGLE
Brett Sutton has defended Victorian contact tracers’ latest bungle, saying there is “no evidence” linking the latest mistake to a fresh outbreak in Melbourne’s north.
The Victorian government was forced to admit its contact tracing team “fell down” again after it took almost two weeks to realise they had the wrong Woolworths store.
The health department originally listed Woolworths Epping as an exposure site after a Victorian man returned from hotel quarantine in South Australia and tested positive.
But it was Woolworths Epping North more than 4km away that the positive case actually visited, with the contact tracers taking almost two weeks to realise the bungle.
Health authorities were on Friday forced to issue an urgent alert for people who had visited the Epping North supermarket to get tested after discovering the error.
Late on Monday night, the Department of Health listed the Epping North Woolworths as a Tier 1 exposure site after a person with coronavirus attended the store on May 22.
Read the full version of this story, here.
EXPOSURE SITE LIST: HIGHPOINT, EPPING NORTH WOOLWORTHS
Thousands of Highpoint shoppers have been ordered to isolate after five people in Melbourne’s northern suburbs tested positive to coronavirus.
Specific exposure sites in Highpoint will be released later on Tuesday.
The positive cases are close relatives who live across three households in the City of Whittlesea, about 15km north of the CBD.
They are two men — one aged in his 30s and one in his 70s — a woman in her 70s and a preschool-aged child.
A fifth case, a man in his 60s, was confirmed on Tuesday morning and is a close contact of Case No.1.
The four infections were named in the Department of Health’s release on Tuesday, which indicated no other new cases.
On Monday evening, six new venues across Melbourne’s northwest were added to the growing number of exposure sites.
Nando’s Epping on Dalton Rd is listed as a tier one exposure site, with people who visited the restaurant on May 19 between 8.30pm and 9.20pm urged to get tested immediately and stay isolated for 14 days.
Anyone who shopped at Woolworths’ Epping North store on May 22 between 4.45pm – 5.45pm is also urged to get tested immediately and stay isolated for 14 days.
Futsal Brunswick has been named as a tier two exposure site.
Anyone who visited the site on Victoria Street between May 23 at 9am and 10am must get tested and isolate until they return a negative result.
Other tier two exposure sites include Urban Diner Food Court at Pacific Epping Shopping Centre, House and Party Store on Lyndarum Drive in Epping, as well as BT Connor Reserve and Shell Coles Express in Reservoir.
A Department of Health spokeswoman on Monday night said the Epping North Woolworths that a Wollert man who tested positive for the virus had attended almost two weeks ago was the same supermarket listed as an exposure site following the discovery of the two new cases on Monday.
The spokeswoman said health authorities had not yet determined whether both cases from the Epping North Woolworths were linked to one another.
The entire Epping North Shopping Centre, where Woolworths and several other exposure sites are located, is now listed as an exposure site alongside the supermarket.
Epping North Woolworths was closed on Tuesday morning as a deep clean took place.
Patrons were turned away at the entrance by an operations co-ordinator from MA Services, a security company provides services for the shopping centre.
The Department of Health sent a text message at 8.20am to Epping North residents warning there were Covid-19 exposure sites in the area.
One woman, who did not want to be named, said she was “surprised” by the closure.
“We weren’t notified or anything,” she said.
MARTIN FOLEY, BRETT SUTTON’S HYPOTHESIS ON NEW Covid CASE
Public health officials are working on the “hypothesis” that the latest cases have been transmitted locally but were awaiting DNA testing to learn more.
“We are concerned, without a doubt … This is not a time to be complacent,” Health Minister Martin Foley said.
There are no known links to exposure sites from Melbourne’s previous Covid-19 scare, but genomic sequencing, which is due back on Tuesday, will help determine if the cases are linked to an infected man from Wollert who flew to Melbourne from South Australian hotel quarantine.
“Given the proximity, we don’t rule out the prospect that there is a link … We can’t rule out there’s a missing link,” Mr Foley said, but added the dates did not necessarily “add up”.
When asked if there was another case out there, Prof Sutton acknowledged it was possible.
It is believed the newly-positive man was infectious from May 18 and carried a high viral load that may have contributed to him spreading the disease to relatives.
“He’s likely to be quite infectious,” Prof Sutton said.
The man, aged in his 30s, developed symptoms on May 20 and was tested on May 23 alongside a male relative, dubbed ‘Case 2’, who was asymptomatic.
The Department of Health learnt of the positive test result on Monday morning and tested close contacts. Two more people, Case 3 (a woman) and Case 4 (a young child), returned positive results.
Initial indications suggested none of the positive cases work in a high-risk sector, such as an abattoir or aged care.
One lives in the wastewater catchment areas that revealed traces of the virus on Friday evening.
During their infectious period, at least one of the cases attended Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong on Thursday, May 20, between 5pm and 8pm.
Anyone at Highpoint at this time must get tested immediately and stay isolated until further notice.
A day later, a positive case attended the Jump! Swim Schools in Bundoora between 8.55am and 10.15am. Anyone at that site must get tested and immediately quarantine.
“Centre management continues to monitor the situation … We will continue with all precautionary hygiene measures already implemented,” Highpoint said in a statement.
Jump! Swim Schools Bundoora took to Facebook to confirm the centre would undergo deep cleaning, and would remain closed until further notice.
BORDER RESTRICTIONS: NSW, QLD, SA, WA REACT TO VICTORIA CASE
Queensland Health issued a directive that anyone in the state who had been to any of the declared exposure sites during the risk period was “automatically required to quarantine”.
NSW Health is “closely monitoring” the situation in Victoria, reminding those arriving from Greater Melbourne that they must complete a declaration confirming they have not attended a venue of concern.
South Australia has enforced a cross-border direction.
As of 8.25pm on Monday, all people who have been to a tier 1 (high risk) or tier 2 (medium risk) public exposure site at the specified times are subject to level 6 restrictions and are not permitted to enter South Australia.
Anyone who arrived in SA prior to 8.25pm on Monday and has been to tier 1 and tier 2 Victorian public exposure sites at the specified times are subject to level 4 requirements – they must reside and remain quarantined and segregated from other people at a suitable place for 14 days, must submit to a Covid-19 test within 24 hours of arrival as well on days five and 13, and must wear a face mask whenever they come in contact with the public.
Western Australia Health issued similar advice, with acting chief health officer Paul Armstrong saying anyone who has visited the exposure sites needs to get tested for Covid-19 “immediately” and quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure.
Read the full story here.
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