Victorian outbreak’s Sydney link confirmed as state records 10 new local cases
The coronavirus ‘hitched a ride’ from Sydney to Melbourne but a crucial part of the story remains unknown, Victoria’s health minister said.
Victoria has recorded ten locally acquired coronavirus cases, with testing confirming the virus circulating in the state “hitched a ride” from Sydney’s northern beaches.
The outbreak is “directly linked” with Sydney through genomic sequencing, but how it came into Victoria remains a mystery, Health Minister Martin Foley said on Saturday.
The link between the outbreak on Sydney’s northern beaches and the cluster in Melbourne’s Black Rock was previously suspected but not confirmed.
“(The virus) has hitched a ride from New South Wales to Black Rock,” Mr Foley said.
“We’ve yet to establish exactly the vehicle that has done that.”
He said it appeared the virus “leaked” out of hotel quarantine in New South Wales, into the Northern Beaches and Croydon before hitting Melbourne.
“It couldn‘t be a worse time, frankly, but we don’t get to pick these things in a global pandemic,” he said.
Ten locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and two in hotel quarantine were recorded in Victoria in the 24 hours to midnight.
Each of the 10 new cases are linked to the Black Rock cluster, leaving no mystery cases in Victoria.
Of the two cases acquired overseas one was an aircrew member and the other was a returning traveller, Mr Foley said.
Of the 10 local cases reported, 2 have already been announced yesterday by NSW. These 2 cases were tested in NSW but are Victorian residents and so are being managed by Victoria.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 1, 2021
Victoria’s testing commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed the latest coronavirus cases in the state were linked to the Smile Buffalo Thai restaurant at Black Rock.
He said at least 18 people who recently tested positive were connected to the restaurant.
At least seven people who tested positive were at the restaurant on December 21, including a staff member, Mr Weimar said.
Ten others were close contacts of those people, the testing tsar told reporters.
"We now have two separate groups of people who are unknown to each other who were adjacent with each other in the restaurant," he said.
So far no other positive cases have been linked to any other exposure sites in the state.
Across the state there were 220 close contacts who were isolating, an extra 50 people from yesterday, Mr Weimar said.
But while the testing commander said it was “positive” the new cases were linked to the existing cluster there would likely be more exposure sites including at Camberwell.
These are expected to be announced later on Saturday, he said.
He also apologised for testing delays but said the capacity was ramping up by 15-20 per cent.
Among the 10 cases were two announced by NSW Health on Friday as they had travelled and tested positive there.
They are now isolating in Victoria and being managed by the Victorian health system.
In total there are 29 active cases in Victoria.
The daily list of exposure sites grew on Friday, with Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre added to areas where people may have come into contact with the potentially deadly virus.
Other sites included the Esplanade Resort Lakes Entrance hotel pool area and hotel bar.
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