Victoria records two new local cases, one not in isolation

Two new locally acquired cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Victoria, with one detail putting the state on edge.

Victoria has recorded two new local Covid cases. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Victoria has recorded two new locally acquired cases on Saturday, as authorities continue to probe how a traffic controller acquired the virus.

Both are linked to existing clusters, however one case was not in quarantine for their infectious period, but had “limited time in the community”.

The second case was in quarantine “throughout their entire infectious period”, a statement from the Victorian Department of Health said.

Health Minister Martin Foley said one of the cases was a personal close contact of the Newport apartments resident, who was moved “very quickly into hotel quarantine”.

The other is another Moonee Valley traffic controller, who shared a car with a previous case.

Victorians are being urged to turn up for their Covid-19 vaccinations, as the state recorded two new local cases on Saturday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

“He was isolated as soon as he was identified as a primary close contact, and had very limited time in the community,” Mr Foley said.

“But he did have an exposure site, which we posted last evening – the Woolworths in Devon Plaza, Doncaster, which was listed as a Tier 1 exposure site.”

Mr Foley said authorities were still trying to identify how the first traffic controller contracted Covid-19.

“Whilst we know that the genomic sequencing has linked him to the original incursions from New South Wales, we have yet to determine the precise acquisition source. We continue to work through possible links,” he said.

More than 32,000 tests were carried out on Friday, while 19,502 vaccine doses were administered.

There are currently 6654 Victorians isolating as close contacts.

Victoria has recorded more than 200 cases linked to the two outbreaks that jumped the border from Sydney’s deadly Delta cluster – one from a team of Sydney removalists who transited through the state and the other from a family who returned to Melbourne’s north from a NSW red zone.