SYDNEY, May 26 (NNN-AGENCVIES) – Health authorities in the Australian state of Victoria, expected to find more cases of COVID-19, following 15 new local cases this week.
Nine people, including five members of the same family from Whittlesea, a northern suburb in Melbourne, have tested positive until yesterday, with a further six people testing positive today.
Genomic testing connected the cluster to a case at a quarantine hotel from the neighbouring state of South Australia (SA) earlier this month. The case was infected with the virus strain first detected in India.
Authorities, however, have yet to locate the “missing link” connecting the SA case to the Melbourne family.
As of today, more than 20 exposure sites have been listed, where at least one of the infected people have visited, including a major sporting venue, a swimming school, supermarkets, a hair salon and restaurants throughout Melbourne as well as the city of Bendigo about 150 km away.
The Victorian government is on high alert as one of the infected people was among the crowd of about 23,000, who went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday for an Australian Football League match.
“Get tested straight away if you have any symptoms whatsoever,” said Victorian Acting Premier, James Merlino.
There are 26 testing sites around Melbourne which are open for extended hours as people rush to get tested for COVID-19. A range of restrictions on Melburnians are already in place until June 4, and the authorities did not rule out possibility of further actions.
“I cannot rule out taking some further action, but we will update people as soon as we know – it’s fair to say that the next 24 hours are going to be particularly critical,” said Merlino.
Meanwhile, authorities in every other state and territory have responded to the outbreak with a range of restrictions.
Queensland and South Australia closed their borders to more than 200,000 people from Whittlesea, while Western Australia is requiring testing and self-isolation for residents who have been to any of the exposure sites.
New South Wales closed its border to non-residents, who have visited exposure sites, and Tasmania banned anyone who visited the exposure sites to travel to the island state, unless they are classified as being essential travellers.
New Zealand also announced yesterday that it has paused its quarantine-free travel to Victoria for at least 72 hours.– NNN-AGENCIES
