Victoria coronavirus restrictions: Wollert man tests positive after hotel quarantine in South Australia

A Victorian man who tested positive for coronavirus had returned from COVID-ravaged India, with fears the state may face new restrictions.

Victoria will see no new restrictions after a man tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday morning but Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton has warned against complacency.

The man who tested positive to coronavirus had arrived in Australia from COVID-ravaged India, but most likely caught it in hotel quarantine, Professor Sutton revealed.

The Victorian man, in his 30s, completed hotel quarantine in South Australia after returning to Australia from India on April 19.

Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton has warned against complacency. Picture: Getty Images

The man returned to his Wollert home in Victoria on May 4, and developed symptoms four days later.

He was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Tuesday, sparking a “full public health response”.

Three of the man’s primary household primary contacts had returned a negative test result.

No new Victorian restrictions were being foreshadowed on Tuesday, but Professor Sutton urged people to follow the health advice including wearing masks inside.

He warned “a sense of complacency [was] creeping in”.

Victoria coronavirus restrictions currently in force

- You must carry a face mask with you when you leave home

- Face masks must be worn on public transport, taxis and tour vehicles

- You can have up to 100 visitors to your home per day

- On-site office work is no longer capped

- There are no limits on the number of people who may visit hospitals

- No cap on gym and exercise classes

- Weddings, funerals and religious gatherings can occur in commercial venues

For the full list of restrictions visit https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/how-we-live.

Man arrived on a flight from India

The man had departed India via the Maldives via Singapore into Adelaide, Health Minister Martin Foley told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

Professor Sutton said the man arrived in South Australia on a routine flight from India in mid-April, before the India travel ban was in place.

He said on Tuesday afternoon it “does seem like” the man acquired the virus in South Australia.

The man underwent hotel quarantine in the Playford Hotel in Adelaide’s CBD, and tested negative four times during his stay.

However, he was in a room next to a separate confirmed case who tested positive during their isolation.

South Australia health authorities are probing whether the infected Victorian man was exposed to the virus before arriving in Australia and had a longer than normal incubation period, or caught the virus in quarantine.

Genomic testing is under way to determine if he was infected in the hotel.

The man returned home on May 4. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“People should wear masks they can’t physically distance from others especially in indoor settings,” he said.

“We know it is mandated on public transport, airports, rideshare vehicles, so people should absolutely follow those rules.

“The other key thing is checking in with QR codes. Everyone should do it everywhere they go.

“You just don’t know where a case might pop up and you might be able to provide that clarity on exactly who was in close contact when someone is infectious.”

The Victorian man got tested on Monday and returned a positive result on Tuesday morning, a result that was confirmed later in the day.

South Australian medi-hotel workers who worked on the floor where the Victorian man was staying have been put into isolation and must isolate until receiving a negative result.

Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms is being urged to immediately get tested. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

South Australian chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the possibility of the man being infected within hotel quarantine was “right at the top of our minds” given it had happened in other hotels.

She said health authorities were investigating “a number of potential hypotheses”, with one of them being that the person was exposed to the virus prior to arriving in Australia and had a longer than normal incubation period.

Another option is that the man contracted the virus while quarantining.

“We know that is possible in some people, that they have a long incubation period longer than 14 days,” Professor Spurrier said.

She confirmed the man was in a room adjacent to a separate confirmed case who tested positive on day 9 of their isolation.

That infected person was then transferred from the Playford Hotel to the state’s dedicated COVID-19 positive facility at Tom’s Court.

However, Professor Spurrier said there was a possibility the virus was transmitted during that time.

She added there were no breaches at the hotel after CCTV footage was reviewed, suggesting the hotel’s ventilation in the passageway could have played a part.

“We will know what the genomic make up will be in the person who is still in Tom’s Court… then we’ll be able match that up and see.

“Once we have the genomics back, things will be much clearer.”

Professor Spurrier said she did not believe the man was infectious while in South Australia after he left hotel quarantine.

SA chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said health authorities were investigating ‘a number of potential hypotheses’ into how the man became infected. Picture: Mike Burton

It has been revealed a man who was infected with COVID-19 was in the adjacent room to the Victorian man at the Playford Hotel in Adelaide’s CBD. Photo: Kelly Barnes

It comes after employees at a Melbourne CBD health business were sent home on Tuesday morning as a precaution, following a COVID-19 scare.

The workers at Citadel Health at 459 Collins Street were told to go home and work from there, with the company liaising with the health department.

The health department is urging anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, chills or sweats, or a change in sense of smell or taste, to immediately get tested.

More than 8000 vaccine doses were administered in Victoria on Monday and almost 13,000 COVID-19 test results were received.

Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton says urgent contact tracing is being carried out. Picture: Wayne Taylor/Getty Images)

This latest incident comes two months after a man contracted the virus in Perth hotel quarantine and flew home to Melbourne while unknowingly infectious.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley confirmed the man contracted the virus while quarantining at the Mercure Hotel in Perth, where he stayed for 14 days.

He was notified by authorities immediately after landing in Melbourne that he was a close contact of a positive case in an adjacent room at the hotel, where there was an outbreak.

People on his flight were contacted and required to isolate for two weeks.