Advertisement

One more COVID case in Victoria, no new infections linked to Sydney outbreak

Hotel quarantine has been suspended in Victoria since the state's snap lockdown in February.

Hotel quarantine has been suspended in Victoria since the state's snap lockdown in February.

Victoria had one new case of coronavirus in hotel quarantine on Wednesday, with no further cases linked to the NSW Northern Beaches outbreak.

The new overseas-acquired case brings the total active infections in hotel quarantine in the state to 10.

Wednesday’s figures came from a bumper 22,956 test results.

On Tuesday, it was revealed a Melbourne teenager had tested positive for the virus, after returning home from Sydney’s Northern Beaches following a family holiday.

The 15-year-old girl visited several NSW exposure sites before driving home to Melbourne with her mother and stopping at Gundagai’s Oliver’s Real Food along the way.

The busy takeaway restaurant was added to NSW Health’s list of venue alerts on Tuesday.

  • See a full list of current NSW venues of concern here

The girl’s mother – who travelled with her to Sydney – has so far tested negative. The family of four are isolating at their home in the Moonee Valley local government area, in Melbourne’s inner-north-west.

On Tuesday, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said there were no known exposure sites in the state and close contacts of the family were being traced.

The Northern Beaches outbreak rose to 90 on Tuesday. Wednesday’s update is due at 11am (local time).

Victoria has slapped restrictions on entry from NSW as the cluster has grown. People from regional NSW can get a permit to enter Victoria but travellers coming from “red zones” in greater Sydney, which includes the epicentre of the outbreak in the city’s Northern Beaches, are being turned back.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian noted she did not close her state’s border with Victoria until it consistently reported 120-180 cases a day during its second wave.

“We try to look at the big picture … be compassionate as well as assessing the health risk and also the impacts on people’s livelihoods and the mental health issues,” she said on Tuesday,

“There are parts of NSW completely unaffected by this current outbreak and yet everybody in NSW is suffering because other state leaders have made decisions.”

Victorian testing commander Jeroen Weimar said Tuesday’s infection in the teenager demonstrated why state authorities had stepped up border controls.

Returning Victorians can no longer return to their home state without spending 14 days in hotel quarantine if they have recently visited greater Sydney or the NSW Central Coast.

-with AAP

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.