Victorian health officials are currently identifying 10 exposed sites as they compete to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 in Melbourne.
They hope that genomic sequencing will establish the source of four new COVID-19 cases among families in the northern part of the city.
Nando’s Epping and Woolworths Epping North have joined Jump! Swim School Bandura and High Point Shopping Center as Tier 1 sites. This means that anyone who attends these locations at a given time should be tested and quarantined for 14 days.
Futsal Brunswick, Eping North Shopping Center, Eping House and Party, Pacific Epping Shopping Center Urban Diner Food Court, Shells Coles Express Reservoir, BT Connor Reserve are Tier 2 sites. This means that affected people should be tested and quarantined until they become negative. result.
A family cluster emerged on Monday that included three preschool children from three households in the Whittlesea region: men in their thirties, men in their seventies, women in their seventies.
Health Minister Martin Foley said there were no signs of infection associated with the site of exposure visited by a Victorian man infected with the coronavirus in a hotel quarantine in South Australia.
The Ministry of Health admitted last week that it listed the wrong supermarket as an exposure site during the outbreak earlier this month.
Whittlesea’s first male infection period could begin on May 18, and Foley said COVID-infected returnees had already been in hotel quarantine long before.
“We do not rule out the prospect of having a link,” he said.
“The dates don’t match right away, so we can’t rule out if there are any missing links there.”
The results of the genome sequencing may establish whether there is a link between the pairs and it is expected to come back as early as Tuesday.
More household contacts in the case have been quarantined, even though the test has been negative so far.
Brett Sutton, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, said the first Whittlesea man was carrying high viral load and warned the community to prepare for more possible cases.
“He’s very likely to be infectious,” Sutton said.
“We need to be prepared for other positive things. Close contact that makes us positive increases our chances of being positive even in casual contact.”
Maribyrnong’s Highpoint Shopping Center and Bundora Swimming School were listed as the first exposure sites.
Foley has flagged no immediate changes to the COVID-19 limit and all, despite most states and territories issuing the latest travel advice on their recent Victorian arrivals. The domestic border remains open.
Recent outbreaks have snapped a series of 86 days in Victoria without locally acquired cases.
Travelers from Melbourne to New South Wales need to make sure they are not exposed to COVID-19
On the other hand, travelers from Greater Melbourne to Sydney need to make sure on arrival that they have not participated in the COVID-19 exposure site after four people were infected with the virus in the northern suburbs of the city.
NSW Health said in a statement Monday afternoon that arrivals from Greater Melbourne would need to complete a declaration confirming that they had not visited the exposed area.
NSW Health said anyone who stayed in Victoria from May 10 in New South Wales and attended any of the sites should contact the authorities immediately.
Everyone in New South Wales in the Whittlesea Municipal Area, including Donnie Brook, Epping, Lara, Thomas Town, and Whittlesea, should avoid Elderly Housing with Care.
Premier Gladys Beregicrian in New South Wales called for an increase in vaccination targets on Monday.
The premiere said it exceeded the weekly jab goal of 30,000 at the Sydney Olympic Park vaccination hub last week and wanted to increase that goal with NSW Health.
The Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Center on Monday also began receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
To date, approximately 1.1 million vaccinations have been implemented in New South Wales, including some federal-supervised deployments.
Beregikrian also said it was too early to discuss whether the COVID-19 case in Melbourne should encourage a hotspot declaration.