Victoria records no new coronavirus cases
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Victoria has recorded no new local cases of coronavirus for the fifth day in a row and none in hotel quarantine.
There are now 20 active cases in the state, five fewer than yesterday. The results come from more than 20,000 tests processed in the past day.
The Victorian government will trial the use of robots in hotel quarantine to monitor breaches and provide an additional layer of security in the wake of multiple coronavirus leakages.
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) will undertake a pilot scheme of a robot that captures both audio and video at one of its hotel in coming weeks as part of a wide-ranging review of the state’s troubled hotel quarantine system.
Victoria’s hotel quarantine program, which was reset late last year after security guards seeded coronavirus into the community that led to the deadly second wave of the pandemic, has been beset by troubles in recent weeks.
The COVID-19 vaccination hub at Melbourne Airport, run by Western Health, opened on Monday.Credit:Penny Stephens / Western Health
There have been multiple leakages out of hotel quarantine despite Premier Daniel Andrews boasting Victoria has the strictest regime in place.
Security company Monjon, who first offered a similar solution to Victorian officials in September, will provide the technology that was successfully used in the hotel quarantine program for the US Open.
More to come
David Estcourt is a court and general news reporter at The Age.
Sumeyya is a state political reporter for The Age.