Victoria records two new locally acquired coronavirus cases on fourth day of lockdown

Melbourne’s streets have been emptied by the snap coronavirus lockdown.(ABC News: Ron Ekkel)

Victoria has recorded two new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and two further infections in hotel quarantine as it entered the fourth day of a snap lockdown.

The two local cases are close household contacts of a previously confirmed case linked to the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport outbreak.

They were detected from 23,950 test results processed on Monday.

It brings the total number of confirmed infections linked to the growing Holiday Inn outbreak to 19.

All active cases of the virus detected in the community so far have been linked back to the outbreak, which began with a family of three returned travellers staying at the airport hotel.

The two new cases were already in quarantine after attending a family function at a Coburg venue on February 6. A Holiday Inn worker who had returned a false negative test before later testing positive was also present.

Next 24 hours ‘crucial’ before Premier makes call on lockdown

All cases in the outbreak are understood to have the more infectious UK “variant of concern”.

Fears the B117 strain was spreading more quickly than other variants prompted the lockdown, which is scheduled to run from midnight on Friday to midnight on Wednesday.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the two new cases, already in quarantine, showed “this strategy is working”.

“We are well-placed to be able to make changes tomorrow night. As I said yesterday, I’m not in a position to definitively commit to that, because these next 24 hours will, of course, be crucial,” he said.

Under the directions of Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, the lockdown could extend until February 26 — the day the current state of emergency directions come to an end.

Authorities have reiterated that directions are frequently revoked prior to their expiry date.

Professor Sutton yesterday told ABC Radio Melbourne the lockdown’s end was being assessed “day by day”, and suggested the lack of further spread was helped by Melburnians adhering to mask rules.

He has previously said it would not be unusual for some restrictions to remain in force, even if other lockdown settings were lifted.

Mr Andrews said a decision would be made based on public health advice about “whether we can go back directly to the settings that were there on Thursday and Friday or whether we have to ease back into it”.

However, he confirmed international flights into Melbourne, which were stalled for the lockdown, would not resume on Thursday.

He said he would provide an update on the international intake of travellers “later in the week”.

The spread of the virus from the hotel into the community has focused renewed concern over the state’s quarantine system.

The ABC yesterday revealed the program was not following the same infection control standards drawn up by a PPE taskforce, which were being applied to the rest of the state’s health system.

High-risk exposure sites being ‘mopped up’

Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar said the majority of the around 40 public and private exposure sites linked to the outbreak were “really starting to be mopped up”.

He said as of late Monday morning, there were 589 household and primary social close contacts across the Holiday Inn cases.

There were 499 hotel quarantine staff and residents, all of whom are in quarantine, and 1,189 primary close contacts linked to exposure sites across Melbourne.

The Department of Health yesterday added two more high-risk locations in Broadmeadows to the growing list of exposure sites on its website.

Anyone who visited the Broadmeadows Central stores BonBon Bakery between 12:30pm and 12:45pm on February 9, or Sacca’s Fruit World between 12:30pm and 1:00pm, needs to get tested and quarantine for 14 days.

The west side of the shopping centre between 12:15pm and 1:15pm has been designated a Tier 3 exposure site, meaning anyone who visited during that time should monitor for symptoms.

Three psychiatric wards across three Melbourne hospitals were locked down and staff were sent to quarantine after a worker was confirmed as a “weak positive” case.

Mr Weimar said there were “very encouraging” negative results coming from testing of close contacts linked to the mental health units.

The worker’s three-year-old daughter has also contracted the virus, and more than 100 people linked to two daycare centres were being quarantined on Monday.

The were among the 38 people who attended the Coburg function on February 6.

ABC