Victoria records SIX new coronavirus cases including three mystery infections and a teacher - shutting down four schools hours after the state prematurely celebrated its first 'doughnut day'
- Victoria recorded six new Covid-19 cases including three mystery infections
- One of new cases is a school teacher in her 20s at school in Melbourne's west
- Positive result has sent 2,100 students and 300 staff members into isolation
- Follows Premier Daniel Andrews celebrating zero new cases on Wednesday
Victoria has recorded six new Covid-19 cases just hours after celebrating the state's first 'doughnut day' in more than three weeks - as four schools were shut down after a teacher tested positive to the virus.
The state's Department of Health said only three of the cases were linked to known outbreaks and self-isolating while infectious.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had 24 hours earlier written simply 'zero' in a post on his official Facebook account to celebrate the state's first day without a local infection since July 12.
One of the new cases is a school teacher in her 20s at a prestigious Islamic school in Melbourne - whose positive result has sent 2,100 students and 300 staff members into isolation for 14 days.
The teacher from Al-Taqwa College in Truganina in the city's west was diagnosed on Wednesday and may have been infectious in the community for a week.
The Victorian Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed a teacher at the Al-Taqwa College in Truganina in the city's west may have been infectious in the community for a week
The school said it would be closed for 14 days - with classes conducted online until August 18 - unless the health department advised otherwise.
The Ilim College and Australian International Academy campuses as well as the Islamic College of Melbourne (ICOM) at Tarneit in Melbourne's west were also shut on Thursday as a precaution.
In separate letters, the three schools reassured parents that none of their students or staff had tested positive so far.
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'There are many primary contacts at ICOM who may have been in contact with the Al-Taqwa positive confirmed case,' one said.
The Al-Taqwa teacher, aged in her 20s, is isolating and being interviewed by contract tracers and with urgent investigations are underway into how she contracted the virus.
Victoria's Covid-19 Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar said the woman became symptomatic at the end of last week and may have been infectious in the community for a week before testing positive.
The state's first positive case in three weeks comes as Victoria recorded it's first Tier Two Covid exposure site since Saturday. Pictured: Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews speaks to the media at a press conference in Melbourne
'From July 28 to July 30 is the point in time when we're assuming she may have been infectious,' he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
The college has been listed as a tier-one exposure site across those three days, while a Coles at Yarraville is a tier-two site for specific times on July 29.
Mr Weimar said some exposure sites listed in the Hobsons Bay area of Melbourne's south-west might be a connection point for the woman's infection.
Al-Taqwa College was a significant location for transmission in last year's second wave.
Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of Victora recording 725 cases, the highest daily number of infections in its deadly second wave of the virus.
More to come
