Victorian health authorities say they are concerned about transmission of COVID-19 through "fleeting" encounters, as the state records three new locally acquired cases of the virus.
Key points:
- Nine new cases were recorded Monday, but six of those were flagged by the government yesterday
- The state recorded 42,699 test results and 20,484 vaccinations at state-run centres
- The Health Workers Union claims some aged care staff are being pressured to work when they should be isolating
A total of nine local cases were officially recorded on Monday, which included six flagged by the government at its daily COVID-19 press conference yesterday.
It takes the state's outbreak, which is ultimately linked to a breach in South Australian hotel quarantine, to 54 cases.
Health Minister Martin Foley said of the three new cases, two were primary close contacts and one was still under investigation.
But he said the case, who was not a known close contact or directly linked to an exposure site, had "very close proximity" to a known exposure site and so authorities were confident they would find a source of the infection.
Mr Foley said in this outbreak there was evidence of "casual acquisition", unlike earlier outbreaks.
The state recorded 42,699 test results and 20,484 vaccinations at state-run centres.
There are more than 320 exposure sites, with the South Melbourne ALDI, the Woolworths at Heidelberg and a number of sites in Brimbank Shopping Centre added last night as Tier 1 sites.
COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said there were a number of cases in recent days where the transmission occurred with "very fleeting contact".
He said venues like the Telstra store in South Melbourne, JMD Grocers & Sweets Epping, a Mickleham display home and Craigieburn Central shopping centre were of most concern to contact tracers.
"They are all examples of transmission with very limited contact," Mr Weimar said.
Victoria is currently midway through a statewide lockdown, which was scheduled to end at 11:59pm on Thursday but may continue if the outbreak is not brought under control.
"There continues to be significant concerns around ongoing transmission in particularly our northern suburbs and many large exposure sites that have been added ... over the last 36 hours," Mr Foley said.
"Our public health team are currently weighing up whether there is still coronavirus circulating in these communities and we still consider our response to the current outbreak on a day-by-day basis."
Genomics link 'mystery' aged care worker to outbreak
No new cases have been linked to aged care settings.
Yesterday, one resident of Arcare Maidstone was confirmed to have contracted the virus, while a second resident was a suspected case.
Two staff members have also tested positive for the virus.
Federal Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck told Senate Estimates the second resident was now cleared of the virus.
"I've since confirmed that the second person who was re-tested because of the nature of that indeterminate test result has tested negative, and so that's the current circumstances as it stands now," he said.
Mr Foley said genomic sequencing had confirmed that the Arcare worker, who is being treated as a "mystery case" without a known source, had the same strain that escaped South Australian hotel quarantine.
"That is at least, confirming in our mind, that this is all the one related cluster from the South Australian hotel breach," he said.
Aged care in the spotlight after cases emerge
ABC News: Stephanie Ferrier
)The Health Workers Union has claimed aged care providers in Victoria are pressuring their staff to come into work when they should be isolating.
The union's Diana Asmar said there had been multiple reports of workers being asked to go into work at centres when they should be home awaiting a COVID test result.
"The actual managers of the facilities are calling the workers and telling them, 'No, we want you to come to work'," she said.
In a statement, Arcare CEO Colin Singh said this was not happening at the Maidstone facility.
"The manager is fully supportive of all measures being put in place to protect team members and is not pressuring anyone to work," he said.
"All team members are being paid while self-isolating and it does not impact their annual leave entitlements."
Meanwhile, the daughter of a resident at Arcare Maidstone said she was comfortable with the centre's handling of the situation.
Peta Soorkia said she had managed to stay in touch with her mother, Mary Delilah, over video calls while the centre remained in lockdown.
"She's in good spirits," Ms Soorkia told ABC Radio Melbourne.
"I talk to her each day and my sister does each day and we do a Zoom when we can ... the staff are very good at making sure all that happens."
Ms Soorkia said she wanted to see the vaccination rollout accelerate now to protect the most vulnerable people.
All aged care residents in Victoria have now been offered their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but it is not clear how many have accepted the offer or how many have been fully vaccinated.
Senator Colbeck confirmed just over 31,000 aged care workers nationally were fully vaccinated, but said the government was not sure exactly how many have had the jab.
After a grilling at Senate Estimates, the Aged Care Services Minister said the federal government was "comfortable" with the rollout to date.
Police union says 'ring of steel' approach should not be used again
ABC News: Ron Ekkel
)As speculation mounts about lockdown continuing, Victoria's police union has said it does not want to see a return to the "ring of steel" in the state, arguing it used up too many resources and was not particularly effective.
The vast majority of the hundreds of exposure sites are located in Melbourne, and to date no positive cases have been detected in regional Victoria.
Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said there were more efficient ways of dividing Melbourne and regional Victoria than the officer-staffed highway checkpoints used last year.
"Whilst we sat out there in these static roadblocks that slowed people down, 99 per cent of these people were just ordinary people with legitimate reason to travel," Mr Gatt told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Mr Gatt said mobile patrols that operated like drug and alcohol tests would provide a "greater enforcement area", use fewer people and, he believes, be more effective.
On Monday, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton did not rule out a return to a hard divide between regional Victoria and Melbourne.
The lack of an enforced border between regional Victoria and Melbourne has been cited by Professor Sutton as one factor weighing against loosening restrictions in the regions, for fear Melburnians would head out of the city and risk spreading the outbreak further.
Victoria records three new local COVID cases as exposure sites surge again - ABC News
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