All of Victoria’s latest coronavirus cases are linked to known outbreaks, including three more children recorded today, but Melburnians are warned not expect a “snap back” to normal when this lockdown ends.
The state recorded nine new locally acquired COVID-19 cases overnight, as well as two yesterday in Arcare at Maidstone, totalling 11 for the last 24-hour results period. There and there are now 94 active cases in the state.
“There are 32 cases linked to the Whittlesea outbreak and that is three new cases today,” Mr Foley said. “All of those three are household contacts of existing cases and have all been in quarantining for their infectious period.
“There are the three new cases in Arcare Maidstone bringing the total number to nine: that being one resident and two new staff members. Two of these were announced yesterday by Arcare but were included in today’s numbers.
“The next four cases are household contacts of cases in the West Melbourne outbreak, bringing the total cases in that particular outbreak to 14.” Those four new cases are the three children and an adult.
“There is one new case in the Port Melbourne outbreak, bringing the total cases there to 31. That person is a previously identified construction site worker in the city,” Mr Foley said.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said while it was reassuring that there were no new exposure sites stemming from today’s cases, Victorians still needed to follow existing advice, heading into the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
“It is good news that we have no significant new exposure sides out of all the positive cases today,” Professor Sutton said.
“That is something I’d expect to see more and more of as days go by. The long weekends should have the same messages for everyone.
“It is certainly not a snap back to large gatherings and a full MCG. People need to consider all of those key messages around isolating if they have symptoms and getting tested and all of the other messages that we have.”
There are no new cases in hotel quarantine. More than 24,000 tests were processed and more than 17,000 vaccine doses administered on Sunday.
Arcare Aged Care facility conducts testing every two days. Staff and residents are being tested on Monday and any new cases from this outbreak would be reflected in Tuesday’s figures.
Another train line was added overnight to Victoria’s long list of exposure sites, with 354 locations now listed by health authorities.
A person with coronavirus travelled on the Upfield line between Merlynston station and the CBD last week from Wednesday to Friday betweent 6am and 4pm.
COVID-19 testing commander Jeroen Weimar has highlighted two areas of specific concern for health authorities.
The first is at Arcare Maidstone, the aged care facility in Melbourne’s north-west. Three of today’s 11 recorded cases were at the facility: one new one is a staff member who was not included in yesterday’s announcement.
“It’s critical for us that these primary close contacts isolate effectively and safely and the new staff coming in do the vital work of looking after those residents in a controlled and safe environment,” Mr Weimar said.
Mr Weimar also said the construction site on Queen St in the CBD was a focus of investigation.
“We have over 490 primary close contacts. Over 400 have returned a negative test results, an encouraging step forward but there are a few more to chase down,” he said.
A large construction site in the CBD was also added as a tier 1 exposure site on Sunday afternoon after a worker tested positive on Saturday.
Other new exposure sites over the weekend include a high-rise city building, a shopping centre in Melbourne’s north and a wholesaler.
Check our interactive list below.
On Sunday, authorities issued a warning for suburbs in Melbourne’s inner north-west after virus fragments were found in wastewater on Wednesday.
During the press conference on Sunday, Arcare in Maidstone – the site of the first aged care cases in the latest outbreak – released a statement saying that a resident and a nurse had both contracted COVID-19 and staff who worked on Saturday had been instructed to isolate.
A resident at Arcare Maidstone aged care has tested positive to COVID-19 and is seen being transferred to hospital for public health reasons.Credit:Nine News
The Victorian government announced on Monday it would provide an extra $30 million for emergency food relief and financial support for people disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
About $13 million will go to the Extreme Hardship Program to help people who are not eligible for income support from the federal government.
Food relief agencies will get $4.5 million to expand their capacity, on top of $31 million of additional funding they have received since February 2020.
Some of this is to be spent on new partnerships between food relief agencies and local restaurants and cafes.
Just over $12 million of the new funding will go towards ensuring multicultural Victorians can access culturally appropriate emergency support.
Abbir Dib is a breaking reporter at The Age
Hanna Mills Turbet is a journalist at The Age.
Victoria records nine new local coronavirus cases - The Age
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