Victoria has recorded two new local COVID-19 cases as authorities are rushing to find the source of the state’s Delta strain cluster, formerly known as the Indian strain of the new coronavirus.
The Ministry of Health reported the case on Sunday with six overseas infected individuals as Melbourne survived a second weekend lockdown.
A total of eight cases from approximately 30,000 tests brought the number of active infections in the state to 85.
It is not yet clear whether the two new infections are related, as Victorian contact tracers are trying to determine the cause of two other “mystery” cases.
The couple, infected in the area, was one of five new local cases reported in the state on Saturday.
One of the two visited the Craigieburn Central Shopping Center on a regular basis, and after a thorough examination by the health department in the area, he came forward for the examination.
That person’s partner is another unlinked case, a construction worker, which prompted the closure of a construction site in Melbourne, affecting 170 employees who are now considered key close contacts. Is giving.
“Seven positive cases are entering the Craigieburn Shopping Center on different days, and contact followers are checking the exact movements of the men and seeing if they overlap with any of them. “Inspection commander Jeroen Weimar said.
Authorities said the other three cases recorded on Saturday were less of a concern as they were the first close contacts with all confirmed cases and were quarantined throughout the period of infection.
These three cases include cases of two Delta strains, a child of a family member who is already infected with the virus and a friend of the family member. The cluster looks separate from the rest of the outbreak in Melbourne, which is made up of kappa stocks that caused havoc in Britain and India, such as Delta stocks.
Experts are still not sure how the Delta strain invaded the community and are analyzing genome sequences nationwide in the hope of finding a match.
Professor Sharon Lewin of the Doherty Institute, Victorian Genome Sequencing Center, said there was no evidence that Victorian families picked up the virus during their vacation in NSW.
Rather, her “strong hypothesis” is that it entered the community through hotel quarantine.
Melbourne is in the second week of a strict lockdown, and Health Minister Martin Foley has not yet committed to ensuring that the restrictions will be relaxed on June 10.
Currently, there are 390 sites that may have been infected with the virus and can be viewed at: Coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites..
Vaccine adoption in Victoria has increased since mid-June with the state receiving an additional 100,000 doses of Pfizer.
Paramedics will be the next frontline group to be prioritized for vaccination from June 9th.