Victorian health officials have changed one restriction in Melbourne after a family-of-four tested positive for Covid without visiting any exposure sites.
The state recorded four new locally acquired Covid cases a day before the state is set to come out of lockdown.
The Department of Health said the cases were from the same household and ‘investigations into acquisition source are underway’.
There are now 78 active cases across the state, down five from Wednesday.
The family, from Reservoir in Melbourne’s north, is made up of a man and woman in their 80s, a man in his 50s and a man in his 20s.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said it was concerning that a source for Thursday’s four new cases had not been identified, and the family hadn’t visited any exposure sites.
The elderly man developed symptoms on June 7 and got tested the following day, fortunately limiting potential exposure sites.
On Wednesday, the state government announced Melbourne’s extended ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown will end at 11.59pm on Thursday, meaning people will be free to leave home for any reason
The Department of Health said the cases were from the same household and ‘investigations into acquisition source are underway’
‘As yet, we don’t know where they’ve acquired the infection from. They’re not identified as close contact. None of them has given a history of being at an exposure sire,’ Prof Cheng said.
Masks were due to become optional outdoors when restrictions ease at midnight tonight, however the Victorian Government has made them mandatory again as a result of the new cases.
New exposure sites include Marco Fine Food and Groceries in Reservoir, Coles at Bundoora Square, BP in Thomastown, and Bunnings Warehouse in Thomastown.
On Wednesday, the state government announced Melbourne’s extended ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown will end at 11.59pm on Thursday, meaning people will be free to leave home for any reason.
But Melburnians will need to remain within 25km of their homes, unless working or studying, care giving or getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Acting Premier James Merlino said the measure was in place to keep Melbourne residents out of regional areas over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
Thursday’s four new cases have also cast doubt on whether more restrictions will be eased next week.
‘As I’ve said before, once we get down to small numbers, what happens next is very dependent on who those last cases are, what they do and how infectious they are,’ Prof Cheng said.
The four new locally-acquired cases are from the same household and investigations into acquisition source are underway
There are now 78 active cases across Victoria, down five from Wednesday
‘Obviously what I am anxious about is that whoever gave infection to both these groups is identified quickly and doesn’t have the opportunity to transmit to other people.’
Restrictions will also ease further for regional Victoria from Friday.
It comes after Victorian health authorities held an emergency meeting with their Queensland and NSW counterparts over a woman who tested positive and travelled interstate.
The woman left Melbourne with her husband on June 1, when the city was in lockdown, and tested positive at the end of a road trip through NSW and into Queensland.
Separately, three people were caught flying into New Zealand last week, after leaving Melbourne during the lockdown and trying to enter the country via Sydney.
The trio, understood to be a family who planned to attend a funeral, are now in quarantine after they were caught on arrival in Auckland.
While those travellers have tested negative so far the woman tested positive on Wednesday, putting regional centres in NSW and Queensland on alert.
Victoria’s health department confirmed an emergency meeting of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee was held on Wednesday night about the case.
The woman and her husband had departed from an unidentified suburb on the edge of greater Melbourne.
They then travelled through regional Victoria, crossed the border into NSW where they visited regional centres, and then entered Queensland on June 5 – two days after she started showing symptoms of coronavirus.
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has said it was possible the woman was infectious from the day she left Melbourne.
Also on Wednesday night, the health department said COVID-19 viral fragments had been detected in a wastewater sample taken from a sewer sub-catchment near Bendigo.
The sub-catchment services the country town’s north-west suburbs and residents, plus visitors from June 3-7, are being urged to get tested if they develop symptoms.
The northern states’ scare and news of the Auckland incident came as Melbourne had confirmation its two-week lockdown was on the verge of ending.
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