The outbreak that plunged Victoria into a seven-day lockdown has grown by four cases, as authorities try to reach dozens of people who failed to check in at high-risk exposure sites.
Key points:
- The outbreak now numbers 30 cases, with 15,000 primary and secondary contacts
- A record 47,462 test results were received yesterday
- The government says support for businesses blindsided by the lockdown will be announced in the next few days
All of the four new cases have been linked to the outbreak, which began in the City of Whittlesea in Melbourne's north and now numbers 30 cases.
The number of primary and secondary contacts linked to the outbreak exceeds 15,000 people.
Genomic testing has confirmed the outbreak originated from a Wollert man who was infected weeks ago while staying in South Australia's hotel quarantine program, but the transmission event linking him to the recent cluster has not been established.
Authorities today revealed the fifth recorded case in the cluster, which was probably the source of infection for the other 29, had likely been in the community while infectious for around 11 days.
The case may have been symptomatic around May 13, but did not get tested until they were identified as a close contact of the first recorded case in the series on Monday.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he could not "emphasise enough" the need for anyone with a "tickle in the throat" or "just a runny nose" to get tested for coronavirus.
"Don't think that it's something else," he said.
"Get that negative test and then assure yourself that you're not putting others at risk."
The number of publicly listed exposure sites has continued to balloon to more than 120, resulting in a record 47,462 test results being processed in the past day, beating the previous record of more than 42,000.
ABC News: Patrick Rocca
)Victoria's COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said authorities were particularly concerned about the potential spread of the virus at five exposure sites:
- The Sporting Globe at 590 Main Street, Mordialloc between 6:15pm and 9:45pm on Sunday, May 23
- Three Monkeys Bar at 210 Chapel Street, Prahran between 9:10pm and 11:00pm on Saturday, May 22
- Somewhere Bar at 181 Chapel Street, Prahran between 10:30pm and 1:00am on Saturday, May 22
- The Palace Hotel, 505-507 City Road, South Melbourne between 5:45 and 6:45pm on Friday, May 21
- The Local on Bay Street in Port Melbourne between 1:30pm and 3:30pm on Friday, May 21
Mr Weimar said authorities had already confirmed one recent case caught the virus from an infected person they caught up with at the Sporting Globe in Mordialloc on Sunday, raising concerns about the transmission risk at that setting.
"We believe they caught the infection then, they were confirmed positive in yesterday's numbers," Mr Weimar said.
On Friday afternoon, the Sporting Globe said in a statement the 11 staff who were working during the exposure window had returned negative tests so far, as they continued their 14 days of quarantine.
He said the number of people believed to be at some of the five sites was in the "low hundreds", but that did not match with the number of people who had checked in with QR codes.
"Which is why we're really keen to bring this to people's attention and say 'if you were there, if you didn't check in, please come forward and let's get you tested and make sure you're not harbouring the virus'," he said.
Mr Weimar said of the 15,000 contacts, 1,452 people had been identified as primary close contacts associated with what he termed the City of Whittlesea outbreak, and the Port Melbourne outbreak.
The outbreak at Port Melbourne began when the virus jumped from the City of Whittlesea cluster into the workplace at Stratton Finance via a close contact.
Mr Weimar said there had been "literally hundreds" of negative test results from people among those close contacts, including 100 people at Stratton Finance in Port Melbourne.
There were 17,223 vaccine doses administered through state-run sites — also a record for the state and up on 12,677 on Wednesday and 15,858 on Tuesday.
Sutton warns 'it's not over yet'
Professor Sutton said it was too early to draw any conclusions from today's case numbers.
"We have to see how the days ahead play out," he said.
"You really never know what to expect. Four [cases] is better than 10.
"We absolutely have to recognise that there are thousands and thousands of close contacts still to go through the incubation period, who could become symptomatic."
The University of Melbourne has reached out to students in its School of Population and Global Health to join the state's contact-tracing team, as authorities try to stay ahead of the outbreak.
Businesses told support will be announced 'in coming days'
Victoria entered its seven-day "circuit-breaker" lockdown at midnight, with only five reasons for Victorians to leave their homes.
The Australian Industry Group estimates the restrictions will cost the state's economy $2.5 billion and push many businesses to the brink of survival.
Mr Merlino said Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas was in close conversation with his federal counterpart, Josh Frydenberg, and a business support package would be announced "in coming days".
Victoria's Minister for Industry Support and Recovery Martin Pakula said the government was trying to reduce the number of businesses who collapse due to the lockdown to "zero, if possible".
ABC News: Patrick Rocca
)"But these are very difficult times for business, for the event sector, for tourism, and nobody wanted to see another circuit breaker but unfortunately that's the situation we're in," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Telstra doubles vaccine hotline capacity after calls crashed system
There were again long queues at vaccination hubs in Melbourne on Friday morning.
Wait times at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre reached four hours by 10:00am.
ABC News: Leanne Wong
)Yesterday, the government broadened vaccine eligibility to include anyone aged between 40 and 49, prompting thousands of people to ring the coronavirus hotline to make an appointment.
More than 77,000 calls were made to the hotline within 15 minutes, causing the system to crash.
Mr Weimar suggested more work had been done with Telstra to "double" the capacity of lines into the call centre, which is staffed with more than 630 people there as of today to take vaccination and coronavirus queries.
"We will continue to add people onto our vaccination bookings system over the coming days to deal with this demand," he said.
Infectious diseases expert Ben Cowie, who is helping lead Victoria's vaccination program, said it was not yet clear when vaccination criteria would be expanded to include 30 to 39-year-olds.
"In terms of further age groups becoming eligible, we really need to see what the demand looks like over the next few days and we will work obviously across government to ensure that we are increasing eligibility once our system's able to handle it," he said.
At COVID testing centres, wait times of more than three hours were being reported at Melton, Alfred Hospital, Wyndham Vale, Casey Fields, Wantirna, Albert Park, and La Trobe University at Bundoora.
All residents of Victorian aged care homes will receive at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of today.
Following the outbreak in Melbourne, it was revealed dozens of facilities still hadn't begun the immunisation process.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the final nine aged care facilities in Victoria will receive vaccines today.
Victoria reports four new local COVID cases, sets record for tests and vaccinations - ABC News
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