As it happened: Five new COVID cases announced in Victoria; Hunt for origins of Melbourne Delta variant outbreak; lockdown continues as police stop travel to regions

Thanks for joining us on the blog, that’s all we have for you today.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more up to date news about the coronavirus outbreak in Victoria and how the lockdown is unfolding.

Here’s a look back at the main stories of the day:

• The Doherty Institute’s Sharon Lewin says the most likely source of the Delta variant outbreak in Melbourne’s inner-city was the hotel quarantine system.

• The Victorian government is clinging to hope that the Australian Formula One Grand Prix can still go ahead in November, despite Singapore’s October grand prix being cancelled on Friday.
• There were two people arrested at Flinders Street Station as part of an anti-vaccine protest and 16 people were fined, after the protesters hijacked a small business demonstration on Saturday morning.

• There were five new local cases announced on Saturday, with three of those people already in quarantine before testing positive, meaning they present a lower risk of infecting others.

• One of the new cases has been identified as a cleaner working at a major city construction site, forcing 170 workers into self-isolation awaiting their test results.
• A sushi restaurant and a supermarket in Melbourne’s CBD have been listed as new coronavirus exposure sites on Saturday afternoon, as well a number of shops within a Craigieburn shopping centre.

Thanks again for your company today, have a wonderful evening.

Two men were arrested by police and 16 fines were issued after anti-lockdown protesters hijacked a demonstration of small business owners outside Flinders Street Station on Saturday.

A 48-year-old man from Caroline Springs was arrested by officers outside St Paul’s Cathedral after failing to provide his name and address.

The man has been charged with three counts of resisting arrest and two counts for breaking the Chief Health Officer’s directions, including not wearing a mask and being more than 10km from his home.

He has been bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on October 28.

A 33-year-old man was also arrested outside Flinders Street Station after failing to provide his name and address. The man, who lives in Mernda, may be summonsed to appear at court at a later date pending enquiries by detectives, Victoria Police said late on Saturday night.

There were 11 people given fines for travelling outside their 10km radius under the CHO directions.

Three people were fined for failing to wear a mask.

Once the golden child of coronavirus suppression, Taiwan today reported 511 new domestic COVID cases, and - sadly - 38 new deaths.

Taiwan’s first real lockdown is being blamed on its three-day quarantine requirements for aircrews. The outbreak began in April when infectious pilots gave the disease to their families and in one case, attended a crowded event at a local mosque, triggering a superspreader event. They were also caught short by a slow vaccine rollout and what analysts are calling “a sense of complacency”.

Foreign Policy wrote yesterday that: “Taiwan’s COVID-19 success, largely based on keeping the coronavirus out and tracking cases down quickly through contact tracing, was also a weakness as authorities failed to prepare for widespread community outbreak, address aircrew quarantine shortcomings, underestimate how contagious new variants are compared to those in 2020, or learn from other countries. In short, Taiwan has been fighting this year’s outbreak using 2020’s methods.”

The Victorian government is clinging to hope that the Australian Formula One Grand Prix can still go ahead in November, despite Singapore’s October grand prix being cancelled on Friday.

It is the second year in a row that the Singapore GP has been called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, race organisers said in a statement.

The Australian Grand Prix.Credit: AFR

Melbourne’s race, which was originally scheduled to take place on March 21 at Albert Park, has been pushed back to November 19-21 due to the pandemic.

Singapore, which was scheduled for October 1-3, joins Canada off this year’s F1 calendar and is unlikely to be the last to fall victim of the pandemic with Japan, Brazil, Mexico and Australia all with doubts over them from the original list of 23 rounds.

Travel to Australia is heavily restricted, and the Canadian GP was cancelled after Formula One teams refused to agree to the quarantine restrictions imposed by the Canadian government.

The Australian Grand Prix is due to run two weeks after the Brazil round, with the South American nation one of the hardest hit by the virus in the world. More than 470,000 Brazilians have died so far from the coronavirus.

Australian organisers on Saturday remained hopeful they could find a way for the race to go ahead as planned.

“The decision by Singapore is not particularly relevant to our situation,” a government spokesperson told the Sunday Age.

“Planning for the grand prix is a complex matter involving multiple parties including the Grand Prix Corporation, Formula One management and the Commonwealth Government.

“The health of Victorians remains the key factor in all this and we’ll have more to say at the appropriate time.“

Last year, the Victorian government cancelled the Australian Grand Prix on the Friday morning of the race weekend, as the world began to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Reuters

A sushi restaurant and a supermarket in Melbourne’s CBD have been listed as new coronavirus exposure sites on Saturday afternoon, as well a number of shops within a Craigieburn shopping centre.

Victorian health authorities have listed 14 new exposure sites on their website today.

The only newly listed Tier 1 site - which requires those present to get tested for the virus immediately and isolate for 14 days - is for the post office in Highlands Shopping Centre Craigieburn, on June 3 between 10.45am and 12.30pm.

Tier 2 sites detailed on Saturday include for Aki Sushi in the Melbourne CBD’s Queen Street on June 2 and 3 between around 9.12am and 9.56am both days. The Little Collins Street Woolworths is also a Tier 2 site, listed as a potential exposure location between 12.10pm and 12.50pm on June 3.

A number of stores in the Craigieburn shopping centre have been listed as Tier 2 sites on May 31, including the Fergusson Plarre bakery, Pinoy Tayo Asian Grocery and Fish Pier.

Those who visited a Tier 2 site must isolate until they receive a negative test.

Check out our constantly updating exposure site map below for the new additions from the Health Department.

Looking for a lighter read this afternoon? Check out our second week of the lockdown diaries, where five Melburnians from different walks of life tell us how they are spending their time.

I’m particularly loving the insights from youngster Kali: “Today was supposed to be Gala Day, where the year fives and sixes do sport (I was going to do hockey) and we get the whole morning off from doing school work.

“It was cancelled so we did random activities at home related to it. I made a first place ribbon, which I wouldn’t have won, and researched Ash Barty, who is the only famous sports person I know.”

The lockdown diaries are updated every day and written by an array of guest writers based in Melbourne, including an ICU nurse, a teacher and an actor

Hi there, it’s Ashleigh McMillan here, taking over from Erin Pearson. I’ll be with you until the close of the COVID-19 blog today.

How are you spending your second lockdown weekend if you’re based in Melbourne? Let me know in the comment section. Personally, I’ve found the largest blanket in the house and plan to stay curled up under it for the rest of this cool afternoon.

Let’s recap the key news from Victoria’s COVID outbreak today:

• There have been five new local cases announced on Saturday, with three of those people already in quarantine before testing positive, meaning they present a lower risk of infecting others.

• One of the new cases has been identified as a cleaner working at a major city construction site, forcing 170 workers into self-isolation awaiting their test results.

• Around a dozen people - many not wearing masks and ignoring police directions - were arrested at Flinders Street Station, after a number of anti-vaccination protesters hijacked the small business protest on Saturday morning.

• The Doherty Institute’s Sharon Lewin says the most likely source of the Delta variant outbreak was the hotel quarantine system.

• In some sad lockdown news, a rogue deer that was spotted trotting around Melbourne’s inner north this morning has been euthanised.

Please stay with us for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

Of the five cases announced on Saturday, three were already in quarantine before testing positive, meaning they present a lower risk of infecting others. The five new cases include:

Two cases linked to the West Melbourne family cluster, among who the new Delta variant is circulating.

These cases include a second son in the second family of four, and a workplace contact of a family member in the first family which travelled to NSW. There are now about 340 close contacts related to the cluster of nine, 82 per cent of who have returned negative tests.

Two cases among a couple who live near Craigieburn, one of whom regularly attends Craigieburn shopping centre where transmission is known to have occurred in recent weeks.

The second member of this pair is a cleaner at a ProBuild construction site in the CBD, which has caused it to close and 170 workers to be sent into isolation. Officials have not yet directly linked these cases to others in the Whittlesea cluster but it is strongly suspected they picked up the virus from someone in this cluster who shopped at the same venue.

One of the state’s newest cases of coronavirus has been identified as a cleaner working at a major city construction site.

About 170 workers are now in self-isolation awaiting their own test results amid five new cases city-wide revealed on Saturday.

The cleaner is among two people from his household to tests positive. The pair live near Craigieburn with one a regularly shopper at the Craigieburn shopping centre where the health department says transmission is known to have occurred in recent weeks.

A ProBuild site on Queens Street has been shut down after a cleaner tested positive to COVID-19.Credit: Tash Sorensen

Officials said while they were yet to directly link these cases to others in the Whittlesea cluster, it was strongly suspected they picked up the virus from someone in this cluster who shopped at the same venue.

Master Builders Victoria chief executive officer Rebecca Casson said the cleaner’s subcontractor reported the positive result to ProBuild on Friday night.

The case related to a site at 100 Queens Street in Melbourne, she said.

“MBV understands that this cleaner was engaged solely at this site. The Department of Health was contacted last night, and their outbreak team is managing the case,” Ms Casson said.

“They have already started interviews and have been in regular contact with ProBuild.

“It will take some time for [the health department] to designate whether the site may be classified as tier 1, 2,
or a hybrid.

“The site is now closed and undergoing a thorough deep clean.”

Victorian testing commander Jeroen Weimar speaks during a Press Conference on June 5.Credit: Asanka Ratnayake

Ms Casson said the health advice for all staff and subcontractor employees was to get tested immediately
and isolate, pending assessment and further instructions.

Anyone who visited the site between May 31 and June 4 has also been instructed to get tested and isolate immediately.

During a press conference on Saturday, COVID-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar 170 close contacts had already been identified within that large CBD construction site.

“The construction industry has worked incredibly hard over the last place really strong workplace controls workplace recording systems,” he said.

“That site is now closed and we’ll continue to work with them over the coming days.”

We’ve been out covering anti-lockdown protests across the city today.

The first - a small businesses rally - kicked off shortly after 11am outside Flinders Street Station. Photographer Chris Hopkins said about two dozen people were there when things became heated with police.

People were arrested at a small business anti-lockdown protest outside Flinders Street Station on Saturday.Credit: Chris Hopkins

An anti-vaccination protester is arrested outside Flinders Street Station after hijacking a demonstration by small business owners. Credit: Chris Hopkins

Officers arrested and questioned about a dozen people who weren’t wearing face masks following repeated warnings, but it appeared as though a number of anti-vaccination protesters had hijacked the small business small protest, he said.

Reporter Ashleigh McMillan was at the second protest outside vaccination hubs which began about noon.

There, the anti-vaccination protest slated for one of Victoria’s biggest vaccination hubs appeared to fizzle.

At midday, few protesters had corralled at the Royal Exhibition Building, while hundreds of people lined up to get an inoculation.

Small business owner Bill Panayotou is comforted after he got emotional talking about his business woes during lockdown outside Flinders Street Station.Credit: Chris Hopkins

One maskless man who told police he was “just minding his own business” and had a exemption was detained by police while they confirmed a name and address.

There was also a strong police presence at the hub, with groups of officers and mounted police patrolling around the building and a police helicopter circling overhead from midday.

Protesters were also expected at the drive-through vaccination sites in the Melbourne Showgrounds and Sandown Racecourse in the city’s south-east.