Coronavirus: Family visit seeds first Victorian case in 53 days

A 15-year-old girl who returned to Melbourne after visiting family on Sydney’s northern beaches has recorded the first new community case in Victoria for 53 days.

Victorian coronavirus testing commander Jeroen Weimar says state authorities were dealing with 300 people who had returned to Victoria after visiting known exposure sites in NSW. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A 15-year-old girl who returned to Melbourne’s northwest at the weekend after visiting family on Sydney’s northern beaches has recorded the first new case of coronavirus outside hotel quarantine in Victoria for 53 days.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the girl had visited high-risk exposure sites on the northern beaches including the Avalon RSL, Avalon Bowling Club and Oceana Traders fish and chip shop, before driving back to Melbourne with her mother last Friday.

The pair also stopped at the Oliver’s Real Food restaurant just off the Hume Highway at Gundagai in southern NSW between 5:30pm and 6:05pm, before arriving home to an address in the Moonee Valley local government area late on Friday evening.

Mr Foley said on Tuesday the girl and her mother had become aware of the northern beaches cluster through media reports and were tested on Sunday despite not being aware of any symptoms, with contact tracers conducting interviews with the teenager and other close contacts when they received the positive result on Monday.

The girl’s mother has so far tested negative for the virus, and she and all other known close contacts have been ordered to isolate at home for 14 days.

Mr Foley said Victorian health authorities believed the girl had not left her home other than to get tested since arriving back in Victoria, with no known exposure sites yet named south of the Murray River.

“This points out just how highly infectious this thing is and how easy it is to transmit around the country. That is why the borders are closed,” Mr Foley said.

Victorian coronavirus testing commander Jeroen Weimar said state authorities were dealing with 300 people who had returned to Victoria after visiting known exposure sites in NSW and were classified as “close contacts” of the northern beaches cluster. All are required to isolate for 14 days.

Victoria’s borders are now closed to anyone who has visited greater Sydney or the NSW central coast since December 11.

“As of last night, 17 people … have been transferred to Victoria’s hotel quarantining program from NSW,” Mr Foley said.