As it happened Victoria COVID: Victoria records four new COVID-19 cases; Melbourne restrictions to ease; NSW, QLD alerts issued

Thanks so much for all the comments and interactions today.

That’s all we have for you but here is a quick look at the major developments from today:

‘We are not out of the woods yet’: Hunt on for mystery cases

Infected couple didn’t have permit to enter Queensland says CHO

International students to return to NSW

‘No one was going to stop me’: Quarantined parents finally meet newborn

‘One million jabs a day’: South-east Asia’s race to vaccinate

Thanks so much for joining us. We will have much more COVID-19 coverage to come tomorrow so please join us in the morning.

The Victorian list of exposure sites is at 140 with new tier-two locations in Thomastown, Bundoora and Heidelberg added to the list tonight

You can read the new sites and dates below, if you have visited any of these locations at the times listed please get a COVID-19 test and isolate until you get a negative result:

Thomastown
AMPOL
Cnr of Dalton Rd & Wood St
Thomastown VIC 3074
05/06/2021 10:45am - 11:25am
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Thomastown
BP Thomastown
72 Keon Parade
Thomastown VIC 3074
28/05/2021 10:00am - 10:35am
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Heidelberg
Coles - Warringal Shopping Centre
Burgundy St & Rosanna Rd
Heidelberg VIC 3084
07/06/2021 4:20pm - 5:20pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Bundoora
Coles - Bundoora Square Shopping Centre
Settlement Rd & Plenty Rd, Bundoora Square Shopping Centre
Bundoora VIC 3083
06/06/2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Bundoora
Coles - Bundoora Square Shopping Centre
Settlement Rd & Plenty Rd, Bundoora Square Shopping Centre
Bundoora VIC 3083
28/05/2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Bundoora
Woolworths - Bundoora Square Shopping Centre
Settlement Rd & Plenty Rd, Bundoora Square Shopping Centre
Bundoora VIC 3083
31/05/2021 12:00pm - 12:40pm
Case attended venue
Tier 2

Singapore: In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the vaccination rollout is not a race.

In south-east Asia it very much is, and those in the midst of it are doing whatever they can to get ahead.

People wait in an observation area at a vaccination hub set up in a Bangkok shopping centre after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Monday.Credit: Bloomberg

The divide been wealthy and developing countries on vaccine accessibility has been laid bare in this part of the world. On top of grappling with highly contagious variants bringing in a new infection wave, most south-east Asian countries have barely got off the starting line in the pursuit of herd immunity.

Click here to read the story.

Buyers who have driven home prices to record highs across the country have been warned an interest rate rise may come sooner than expected as the economy continues to bounce back from the coronavirus recession.

ANZ economists said on Thursday the Reserve Bank was likely to start increasing official interest rates in 2023 or perhaps even earlier as a strengthening jobs market lifted wages growth and inflation.

The ANZ has warned an interest rate rise might come sooner than expected as the economy strengthens.Credit: Peter Braig

As recently as Wednesday, RBA assistant governor Christopher Kent reiterated the bank’s view that inflation and wages growth would not be high enough to justify an interest rate rise until at least 2024.

Click here to read the story.

The Melbourne couple who travelled from Victoria to Queensland before testing positive for coronavirus did not have a health exemption to enter the Sunshine State.

The travellers have sparked a multi-state investigation into their route after they left Melton, in Melbourne’s west, on June 1 and travelled via NSW before testing positive for the virus in Queensland this week.

On Thursday, the Queensland government said while the pair may have been relocating for work, they had not applied to Queensland Health for an exemption permit to travel into the state from Melbourne.

The state’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said both had since been moved into quarantine.

Click here to read the story.

Victorian Tourism, Sport and Major Events minister Martin Pakula expects applications to be open by early next week for the state’s $20 million events industry support program.

Mr Pakula admitted the state won’t quickly return to hosting major events like ‘having 78,000 people at the MCG’ but he hopes to see weddings, conferences and conventions back soon.

Minister Martin Pakula.Credit: Simon Schluter

“I would hope to have more to say in the next couple of days,” Mr Pakula told 774 ABC Melbourne on Thursday night.

“We’re just finalising the criteria with Treasury at the moment. We hope to have that available for applications in the next few days or early next week.”

Victorian authorities have found three new wastewater detections of COVID-19 fragments in the Pascoe Vale, Scoresby and Vermont areas.

The new detections came from areas with no confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The chief health officer’s daily update email has listed the three detections as a concern and anyone who has been in those areas between June 3-7 and had symptoms should seek a test and isolate until they receive a result.

The Pascoe Vale area includes Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park and Pascoe Vale.

The Scoresby area includes Burwood East, Forest Hill, Glen Waverley, Scoresby, Vermont South, Wantirna South and Wheelers Hill.

The Vermont area includes Balwyn, Balwyn North, Blackburn, Blackburn, North, Box Hill, Box Hill North, Bulleen, Doncaster, Doncaster East, Donvale, Mitcham, Mont Albert, Mont Albert North and Nunawading.

The CHO email said the matter could be someone shedding the virus who is no longer infectious or it could be someone who is infectious but undiagnosed.

Yesterday the wastewater testing found traces in the Bendigo area which takes in California Gully, Eaglehawk, Epsom, Huntly, Jackass Flat, Maiden Gully, Marong, North Bendigo and Sailors Gully.

Anyone who was in those suburbs from June 3-7 should get tested if they have any symptoms.

You can read more about the wastewater testing results here.

Melburnians must continue to wear masks outdoors as health authorities investigate how four new locally acquired COVID-19 cases were infected.

As the city prepares for restrictions to ease at 11.59pm on Thursday, authorities have revealed they are investigating how a family of four in Reservoir picked up the virus after initial interviews failed to reveal any crossover with existing exposure sites.

They are also waiting on genomic test results to determine which strain of the virus the family have.

The four new local cases recorded on Thursday are currently being considered as a new cluster and related exposure sites have been added to the Health Department’s list of places visited by people with COVID-19.

A couple from Melton who tested positive for COVID-19 in Queensland on Wednesday after driving to the Sunshine Coast vis NSW have not been included in Victoria’s coronavirus tally.

Click here to read the story.

While you are here

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This past week we have featured five Melburnians in our lockdown diaries and they have offered us a real and honest look at their lives as they deal with the second week of lockdown.

From a personal perspective, I’ve been so proud to read the words of Paul Birthisel, owner of Hawthorn cafe Meet Me There, as he detailed his struggles to keep his business going through all the restrictions imposed by lockdown.

Paul Birthisel cedes control of his cafe to his daughters each Monday.

Paul and myself have been best mates since we met as 10-year-olds and when we were looking for a business owner for the diary, he took on the task.

I feel like his entries this week must have mirrored the feelings of thousands of business owners during this time.

Today is the last day of the diaries but you can go down the story to read the previous entries.

To read Paul’s thoughts and those of some other wonderful Melburnians, click the link here.