Traffic controller at busy Melbourne Covid-19 test centre positive

Victorian contact tracers are scrambling to identify the origins of a mystery Covid-19 case in a man who directs traffic at one of Melbourne’s busiest coronavirus testing centres.

The Covid-19 testing site at Melbourne’s Moonee Valley racecourse has closed after a traffic worker tested positive. Picture: David Crosling

Victorian contact tracers are scrambling to identify the origins of a mystery Covid-19 case in a man who directs traffic at one of Melbourne’s busiest coronavirus testing centres.

The traffic controller at the Moonee Valley racecourse drive-through testing centre in Melbourne’s northwest, developed symptoms on Monday, got tested on Tuesday and returned a positive result early on Wednesday.

The new, unlinked case came as Victorians were enjoying their first day of freedom following the end on Tuesday night of the state’s fifth lockdown, having recorded eight new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm Tuesday, all linked to current outbreaks and in people who had been in quarantine throughout their infectious period.

Health Minister Martin Foley said a case interview was ongoing on Wednesday morning, but the man had worked at the testing centre for at least two days while infectious.

“We do believe that there will be minimal risk to those at the site … however, the site has been closed, all the staff who have worked on the same shifts have been sent home to isolate and to follow up, and our pathology team are identifying, in fact, if there were any positive cases who went through that testing centre during the period in which the person worked,” Mr Foley said.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said that while the man would not have been required to wear any more than a face mask in terms of personal protective equipment, the risk to members of the public who had attended the testing centre was “extremely low” because they would have been in their cars.

“But if you’ve wound down your window to speak to a traffic controller at that site, you know, that might put you at slightly greater risk,” Professor Sutton sad.

Victoria’s health department said on Wednesday afternoon it had identified a number of household and social contacts of the man, all of whom were isolating and undergoing urgent testing. Four exposure sites linked to him were also identified in Frankston and Frankston South in Melbourne’s outer southeast, including two supermarkets, a shopping centre and a service station, for periods last Saturday and Monday.

The number of community-acquired cases linked to Victoria’s latest outbreaks rose to 198 on Wednesday, with every case identified since Saturday having been in quarantine throughout their infectious period.

Of 205 active cases, 195 were locally acquired and 10 were returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.

Amid businesses reopening, Treasurer Tim Pallas, Industry Support and Recovery Minister Martin Pakula and Small Business Minister Jaala Pulford announced a $400m package, jointly funded with the federal government, to support businesses suffering ongoing pain from restrictions.

It includes an $85m small business hardship fund, to provide $5000 grants for businesses with a payroll up to $10m that have experienced a hit to revenue of 70 per cent or more. A commercial tenancy relief scheme and landlord hardship fund of $80m will partially compensate landlords for providing rent relief for small to medium commercial tenants.

As ongoing restrictions continue to hamper businesses after the lockdown, a $156m continuity fund will provide $5000 grants to up to 30,000 businesses.