Victoria records five new local Covid-19 cases as Al-Taqwa College locked down

Daniel Andrews will give an update on the situation in his state this afternoon, with sources warning Victoria could go into lockdown at 6pm.

As Victorians wait to find out whether they are headed into their sixth lockdown as early as tonight, Premier Daniel Andrews has used Question Time in state parliament to appeal to people who have “made the wrong choices” regarding coronavirus to “do the right thing”.

Government sources say Victoria could be headed into lockdown as early as 6pm on Thursday, with an announcement expected in coming hours.

The news comes after the state recorded six new coronavirus cases to midnight on Wednesday, three of which are yet to be linked to known outbreaks. A further two cases have since been confirmed.

With Question Time underway from 2pm in state parliament, Mr Andrews used a Minister’s Statement to provide a coronavirus update, saying the latest cases were a “reminder that the Covid-19 virus and particularly the Delta variant of that virus has not gone away.”

“It is with us until a very significant majority of us have been through the commonwealth vaccination program. That is the fact. That is the reality,” Mr Andrews said.

He appealed to Victorians to abide by coronavirus restrictions, and get tested if they develop symptoms.

“If you have symptoms, however mild, you must go and get tested as soon as you register those symptoms, not an hour later, not an afternoon later,” Mr Andrews said.

“Can I thank all of those who are doing the right thing in partnership, and can I appeal to anybody who’s thinking about making or has made the wrong choices? We’ve all got to work together to defeat this.”

The Premier’s appeal to people to get tested as soon as they develop symptoms comes after Covid logistics chief Jeroen Weimar repeatedly obfuscated when asked when a teacher in her 20s who tested positive on Wednesday had become symptomatic.

Mr Weimar said authorities believed the teacher may have been infectious as early as Wednesday last week, but failed to explain how they could have reached that conclusion without believing she had been symptomatic soon thereafter.

The teacher worked at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina, in Melbourne’s outer southwest, between Wednesday and Friday last week.

She did not attend work on Monday, got tested on Tuesday, and received a positive result on Wednesday.

Three cases have since been linked to the teacher, including her partner who worked as an optometrist and played community football while likely infectious, and two members of a related household.

‘Don’t plan on easing restrictions’

Earlier, Mr Andrews told journalists at the back door of state parliament that “no one should be banking on restrictions easing next Tuesday”.

Mr Andrews spoke as COVID-19 logistics commander Jeroen Weimar announced two new additional cases, both linked to the positive al-Taqwa college teacher and Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley warned the number of close contacts could explode to 10,000 in possibly hours.

Mr Foley said thousands of people had already been potentially exposed at the al-Taqwa college as well as their families and members of the student communities.

“We would imagine given our understanding of the [al-Taqwa school community] that we will very quickly pass five to ten thousand close contacts in hours if not days,” he said.

The new cases bring the number of cases recorded in Victoria on Thursday to eight but the numbers will be part of Friday’s count.

Mr Weimar said around 2,500 staff and students, including 300 closely linked to the teacher, would need to isolate for 14-days.

Mr Weimar said the parents and family members of students and staff would have to isolate for 14-days.

“Not only the children that attend the school but anyone they lived in must isolate for 14 days,” he said.

Mr Weimar said two other schools had closed as a precautionary measure due to links with al-Taqwa college.

He said none of three mystery cases had visited any of the exposure sites.

Mr Andrews said he had no announcements to make yet regarding a lockdown, as the state government and health authorities continue deliberating whether to send Victoria into its sixth lockdown.

Former Australian Medical Association president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal urged people to come forward for testing and vaccination.

Dr Haikerwal operates a GP clinic in Altona North, which sits in the southwest region of Melbourne where cases and exposure sites are quickly multiplying.

He said vaccination was the only way to overcome the pandemic and said it was crucial people came forward for the jab.

“That is our way out of jail,” he said. “We’ve got to get vaccinated,”

‘Expect more exposure sites’

Earlier, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley warned the state to expect more exposure sites after the state recorded 6 new cases, including three mystery cases.

Mr Foley said there are “multiple thousands” of close contacts after positive cases visited the Elite Performance Gym in Spotswood and a football club in Newport.

Mr Foley said a testing site had been established at the Al-Taqwa Islamic school, which last year saw one of the biggest outbreaks of the second wave.

Of the three new mystery cases, one is a Maribyrnong man in his 20s who tested positive late last night. The source of acquisition remains under investigation. He works in a warehouse in Derrimut and lives with one other person.

The other two mystery cases is a teacher at the Al-Taqwa school and a household contact. The pair live in Hobsons Bay.

“We started off yesterday with no cases and now 24-hours later we have at least three unlinked cases,” Mr Foley said.

The three remaining cases are linked to a traffic controller who worked at the Moonee Valley testing site.

However, any announcement about a snap lockdown is not expected until later on Thursday.

The latest cases include a teacher in her 20s who works at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina in Melbourne’s outer southwest, and her husband, who works as an optometrist in Caroline Springs in the outer west.

The couple live in the Hobson’s Bay area in the inner southwest, and the husband played AFL football for the local Newport club over the weekend while likely infectious.

More than 15 exposure sites have been listed in throughout Melbourne’s western suburbs since the teacher’s case emerged late on Wednesday.

The state’s health department confirmed six new local virus cases about 8.30am, but one case was previously announced on Wednesday afternoon.

That case – a teacher at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina – was announced just hours after a doughnut day in a fresh blow for Victorians as they emerge from their fifth coronavirus lockdown.

The health department said the acquisition source of the woman’s infection remains a mystery and household contacts of the case were being urgently tested.

There are now fears the state could be heading towards a sixth lockdown after two more mystery infections emerged on Thursday morning.

Victoria went into its fifth lockdown last month after 10 local cases on July 15, but all cases were all linked to outbreaks. In the two days prior to that, four local cases were recorded after the virus jumped the border from the deadly Delta cluster in NSW.

Two of Victoria’s new cases on Thursday are currently unlinked and under investigation, while the three remaining Covid-19 cases were linked to existing outbreaks and in isolation for their entire infectious period.

Al-Taqwa College in Truganina has recorded a mystery Covid-19 case. Picture: Kylie Else

Victoria’s Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said health officials believed the teacher may have been infectious while teaching at the school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week.

All staff, students, families and visitors who attended the school on July 28, 29 and 30 have also been ordered to get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days.

Here we go. 6 cases for Lockdown 6? #springsthttps://t.co/yakLROVuYl

— Shannon Deery (@s_deery) August 4, 2021

Al-Taqwa College spokesman Terry Barnes said in a statement the campus had been “completely shut down” and would likely remain closed for 14 days.

“The college campus will be completely shut down with no staff members or students permitted to attend the college premises (and) deep cleaning is being arranged,” he said.

Victoria has recorded more than 220 cases linked to the two outbreaks that jumped the border from Sydney’s deadly Delta cluster – one from a team of Sydney removalists who transited through the state and the other from a family who returned to Melbourne’s north from a NSW red zone.

No new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine, with the number of active infections in the state falling to 80 – down from 99 on Wednesday.