One new coronavirus case has been found in Victoria, a man in his 60s, Acting Premier James Merlino says.
The man is linked to the City of Whittlesea outbreak, Mr Merlino said. Genomic sequencing shows this outbreak is linked to the case of a Wollert man who contracted the virus in South Australian quarantine, although common exposure sites have not yet been identified, he said.
“This case, like the four we announced yesterday, has not identified any link to exposure sites from the Wollert case two weeks ago. This will be confirmed through further investigations and I advised that genomic sequencing for this outbreak has been completed. It is closely linked to the Wollert outbreak which originated in South Australia in hotel quarantine” Mr Merlino said.
The Victorian government has announced new coronavirus social distancing restrictions for Greater Melbourne in response to the latest outbreak.
The health department added new exposure sites in Brunswick, Reservoir and Epping overnight.
On Tuesday morning testing sites were inundated with people and closed almost as soon as they opened.
The Epping testing site at Northern Hospital closed after reaching capacity just 20 minutes after it opened, according to Nine reporter Christine Ahern.
The Royal Showgrounds testing site reached capacity after being open for five minutes, with authorities predicting a two-hour wait to receive a test.
Health Minister Martin Foley says authorities expect the list of exposure sites to grow in coming days. There are now 10 exposure sites listed in Melbourne’s suburbs.
“Last night, we updated the list of exposure sites to the first four cases and following today’s fifth case and the [contract tracing] interview that’s underway at the moment, we could expect both this list to grow,” Mr Foley said.
“We’re working hard to test … [and] isolate all the cases and all the personal and close contacts associated with this outbreak in the Whittlesea area.”
He said people should monitor the list of exposure sites closely given there are several exposure windows that require people to isolate immediately and get tested.
The new sites include indoor soccer facility Futsal Brunswick on May 23 between 9am and 10am, BT Conor Reserve in Reservoir on May 21 between 8pm and 11.30pm and Coles Express in Reservoir on May 18 between 3.15pm and 4.15pm.
The health department also added Nando’s Epping on May 19 between 8.30pm and 9.20pm, and store House and Party between 5.15pm and 5.50pm on May 22.
They join sites identified yesterday afternoon including Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong, the Urban Diner Food Court in Epping, Jump! Swim Schools in Bundoora and Epping North Shopping Centre.
Confirmation of the new COVID-19 cases – among four family members spread over three households in Melbourne’s outer north – sent thousands of people into isolation on Monday.
The man in his 60s is the fifth in this cluster.
On Monday Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned that one of the infected people had been moving around the community with a high viral load. The exposure site dates back to last Tuesday afternoon.
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David Estcourt is a court and general news reporter at The Age.
Melissa Cunningham is The Age’s health reporter.