Just two new COVID cases in Victoria as lockdown end nears
Construction workers in Melbourne and other locked-down areas will soon return to worksites. Photo: Getty
Victoria has confirmed just two new COVID cases on Tuesday – both linked to Melbourne’s existing outbreaks.
The latest figures – just over two days before Melbourne’s lockdown is scheduled to end at midnight on Thursday – come from more than 22,000 tests in the previous 24 hours.
They take the city’s clusters to a total of 83 infections, but will be a welcome drop from the 11 fresh cases confirmed on Monday.
Victorian authorities will give more details at a briefing later on Tuesday.
Tweet from @VicGovDH
The latest update came as the number of coronavirus exposure sites across Victoria remained high.
Many were removed on Monday, after two weeks since their first exposure. But more than a dozen more were added shortly after, taking the number back up above 300.
A busy Melbourne CBD construction site is a key remaining focus for contact tracers. Authorities have confirmed the virus spread from a cleaner who had tested positive to another worker at the ProBuild site at 100 Queen Street about the start of June.
There are 492 close contacts linked to the site, with more than 400 returning negative tests by Monday night.
Other CBD exposure sites include Woolworths Metro on Little Collins Street, Aki Sushi on Queen Street, and two buildings on Collins Street.
On Monday, Victorian authorities said they were on track to lift restrictions later this week, but warned Melburnians not to expect an immediate return to the relaxed restrictions they enjoyed before the current outbreak.
Four of the new cases reported on Monday have the more infectious Delta strain, which originated in India.
As of Monday, the Delta variant outbreak – linked to a North Melbourne school – totalled 14. Authorities remain no closer to finding out how a family from West Melbourne first contracted it.
More than 5800 people are still in quarantine, but about 1000 people finished quarantine on Monday after returning day 13 negative tests.
More than 550,000 tests have been administered in Victoria since the outbreak started two weeks ago.
-with AAP
