Mystery case raises fears of another COVID cluster in Melbourne
Victorian health officials are racing to trace a new mystery infection amid fears another COVID cluster may have emerged in Melbourne.
Health authorities fear there could be a second COVID cluster in Melbourne after a new mystery infection emerged overnight.
The Department of Health and Human Services urgently issued alerts for Chadstone shopping centre and the MCG on Wednesday morning as potential coronavirus exposure sites.
The new mystery case – a man in his 30s – visited Chadstone for the Boxing Day sales on December 26 and also the Test match between Australia and India on December 27.
Victoria’s deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng said the man may have acquired his infection at one of the two sites, but it was more likely to be a household link or contact at a private social gathering.
Professor Cheng said it was most likely there was another coronavirus cluster emerging in Melbourne.
“There are a couple of possibilities and I think we need to wait for the genomics as has been pointed out,” he said.
“I think it’s most likely we have another cluster going on, it’s possibly linked to that.
“It also is possibly linked to someone coming down from NSW, or it could be unrelated, but I think we need to wait for genomic data.
“It’s just one piece of the puzzle, but we just need to find the person that gave him the (virus).”
Until Wednesday all of Victoria’s locally acquired infections, since the state’s streak of 61 days of no community transmission ended on December 30, had been connected to the Black Rock Thai restaurant cluster.
That outbreak has seen 27 people infected across 14 households and more than 1300 close contacts identified across the state.
“We’re trying to be cautious. We do have this information about Chadstone and the MCG so we’re trying to get that information out to make sure that we’re not missing anything,” Professor Cheng said.
“There are a couple of possibilities and I think we need to wait for the genomics.”
The man developed symptoms on December 30, self-isolated from December 31 and was tested late in the day on January 3.
The Department of Health and Human Services was notified of his positive result on Tuesday.
Two other virus cases have been reported in the past 24 hours, both returned international travellers in hotel quarantine.
Victoria now has 41 active cases.
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