Melbourne Covid-19 outbreak spikes as lockdown fears grow

As Victorian authorities spent the night debating a five-day lockdown, Eddie McGuire appeared on TV claiming he had contacts on the inside.

As Victorian health authorities spent the night debating a five-day lockdown for Melbourne, TV and sporting personality Eddie McGuire appeared on TV claiming a five-day lockdown was set.

McGuire, appearing on Channel Nine’s Footy Classified on Wednesday night, said “government sources” told him a five-day lockdown will be announced on Thursday morning.

McGuire was speaking on the Victorian Covid cases rocking the AFL world, claiming there would be “no crowds” at the weekend’s matches.

“My information from government sources is tomorrow morning it may well be announced there will be a five-day lockdown in Victoria,” McGuire said.

Eddie McGuire’s “government contacts” telling him a 5-day Melbourne lockdown will be announced tomorrow

— Oliver Caffrey (@ollycaffrey) May 26, 2021

Victoria’s Covid-19 outbreak rose significantly overnight, with the state’s cluster now at 26 cases.

One of the 12 cases confirmed by the Department of Health was reported on Tuesday, meaning there were 11 new infections has been recorded.

Authorities have not confirmed if a lockdown is in fact taking place but it is understood officials are meeting to confirm the final details of a lockdown to help manage the latest cluster of cases.

“That is information coming through at the moment, unconfirmed. Wait for tomorrow but the information is it could be a five-day lockdown which would mean no crowds at the football,” McGuire added.

Eddie McGuire talks five-day lockdown.

More than 40,000 test results were received overnight, with the state’s active cases now sitting at 34.

Six new cases were confirmed on Wednesday morning, with one of those – announced soon after an initial five new cases were revealed – included in today’s tally.

It means a total of 10 new local infections were discovered on Tuesday.

Reported yesterday: 10 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
- 15,858 vaccine doses were administered
- 26,180 test results were received

More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicDatapic.twitter.com/BCp1fpOLJB

— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 25, 2021

Lockdown fears grow as new cases emerge

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Acting Premier James Merlino revealed he was “very concerned” about the spike in cases, prompting further fears Melbourne could be sent into a snap lockdown.

A raft of new restrictions were introduced across Greater Melbourne on Tuesday, but Mr Merlino warned the government hasn’t ruled out taking further action.

“I want to be upfront with everyone this morning – I cannot rule out taking some further action, but we’ll we will update people as soon as we know,” he said.

“It’s good that everyone is linked at the stage, but we are concerned about the number, and also about the kind of exposure sites, and the next 24 hours are going to be pretty critical if we’re going to make any further changes beyond the changes that we announced yesterday.”

It is possible tougher restrictions could even be brought in by the end of the day, Melbourne University epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakey told 3AW.

He told the program the situation has, in a short period of time, “really escalated to become quite concerning” and things were now “really serious”.

“I’m expecting that we will see significant increases in restrictions announced soon. We do unfortunately have a problem on our hands,” he told the radio program.

RELATED: Snap lockdown fears as outbreak worsens

Acting Victorian Premier, James Merlino speaking at a press conference to update on Melbourne’s Covid cases. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Professor Blakey said if a lockdown does occur, it likely won’t be as short as some of the other lockdowns other parts of the country have experienced in recent months.

“If we go into lockdown, I don’t think this will be circuit breaker. It would be for at least five days and reassess the numbers as they come through. It wouldn’t just be a three-day one, I suspect,” he said.

The current restrictions, which were introduced at 6pm yesterday, include:

• A limit of five visitors per day for private households

• A limit of 30 people for public gatherings

• Masks required indoors for everyone aged 12 and over — even in workplaces — unless an exemption applies.

So far 301 primary close contacts of confirmed coronavirus cases have been identified, with 80 of those returning negative test results.

A man in his 60s, who was among the five cases announced yesterday, is believed to be the earliest known infection in the new outbreak.

The man, referred to as case 5, developed symptoms on May 17, with authorities believing he may have been infectious for almost 10 days before presenting for testing.

Later in the day it was announced four family contacts of the man also tested positive. He is also believed to have transmitted the virus to the first person discovered in the cluster, a man in his 30s.

That man then passed the virus on to three close family contacts spread across two households in Whittlesea, including a man in his 70s, a woman in her 70s and a preschool-aged child.

Everyone in the new cluster has been confirmed as having the Indian variant of the virus.

Chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton said authorities have discovered “multiple generations of transmission” over the last two days.

He said the next 24 hours will tell authorities whether anymore primary contacts are out in the community, with the rest of the 300 test results to come through today.

“The exposure sites that they then generate, how many close contacts they might have and how long they have been in the community — they are all factors we need to consider,” he said.

Authorities still hunting down ‘missing link’

Genomic testing has found the new infections are “closely linked” to a case from a few weeks ago that originated in South Australia.

Earlier in the month a man tested positive to the virus after becoming infected while undergoing hotel quarantine in South Australia and then flying into Melbourne and returning to his home in Wollert.

Health authorities believe there could be a “missing link” between this case and the new cluster, though so far none of the new cases have been found to be linked to any exposure sites from the Wollert case.

Professor Sutton confirmed on Wednesday that authorities are still trying to determine how this new cluster is linked to the Wollert case.

“All of the cases in this cluster are linked so we understand the relationships between them and we have an explanation for how transmission has occurred,” he said.

“We might see new people coming forward and testing positive that either tell us what the missing link is with the Wollert case.”

At the moment authorities are trying to understand how case 5 contracted the virus, with Professor Sutton adding unknown acquisition of Covid-19 is “always a concern”.

RELATED: Map shows footy fans in Covid danger zone

A woman gets tested COVID-19 testing at the Melbourne Showgrounds in Flemington. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Professor Sutton said yesterday that the cluster shows there was “clearly someone who was not identified” through recent contact tracing interviews, possibly because they were a casual contact.

“That is why I flagged public transport is a risk if you are on a packed carriage you do not know who you stand next to and you may be next to an infectious person,” he said.

“I ask everyone to go back to those exposure sites on the website and, indeed, if they are going out for any gatherings, within limits from today and with 6pm restrictions in mind, go back to those exposure sites. If you have been to one of them, you should not go anywhere you should be tested.”

Close contacts identified in NSW, new restrictions imposed

At least two of the more than 300 close contacts identified by health authorities travelled back to NSW from Victoria.

NSW’s chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed two individuals who travelled back to Sydney were identified as close contacts and immediately alerted NSW Health and got tested.

Both of those tests have since come back negative.

“They have done the right thing. As soon as they had become aware, they have alerted us and we can then provide them with up-to-date advice and get them urgently tested and assist them if they cannot isolate effectively,” she said.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant speaks to the media at a press conference. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

In light of Victoria’s growing cluster, anyone who has been in the Greater Melbourne and Bendigo areas in the past 14 days since May 12 should not visit NSW residential aged-care facilities, or healthcare facilities unless seeking treatment or for compassionate reasons.

Those who have only transited through an airport in these areas are excluded from this restriction.

Aged-care staff who have been in Greater Melbourne and Bendigo in the past 14 days should wear a mask while at work.

Dr Chant urged anyone who has been in these areas to be on high alert and follow current health advice.

“We are very connected to our southern neighbours, and that is why our key commitment is to make sure that you address those venues of concern, recognise the situation is evolving, but also, if you have the most minimum of symptoms and you have returned from Victoria, please get tested,” she said.

Growing list of COVID-19 exposure sites

Multiple locations have been added to the list of sites visited by confirmed COVID-19 cases during their infectious periods.

A late night alert from Victorian health authorities sparked concerns thousands may have been exposed to the virus after a positive case attended the Collingwood/Port Adelaide game at the MCG on May 23.

he Melbourne Cricket Ground has been listed as an exposure site in Melbourne with the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Crosling

People seated in Zone 4, Level 1, those with a bay between M1 & M16 on their match ticket, will be contacted directly with advice to get tested and isolate until a negative result is received. You can see the seating map here.

Some other individuals will be contacted directly by the Department of Health with specific advice while others attending who were not located in the areas of concerns are advised to check for symptoms and get tested if any develop.