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17 AUGUST, 2021
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Mystery COVID cases By Benjamin Millar Melton remains a COVID-19 hotspot of concern for health authorities, with mystery still surrounding the infection source for a local family and more than thirty locations identified as exposure sites. There are now 27 active cases across the City of Melton, including a child and his parents identified as mystery cases. The cases come as Melbourne’s latest lockdown was extended by a further fortnight on Monday, with a 9pm to 5am curfew introduced and playgrounds closed. Premier Daniel Andres said the number of mystery cases and chains of transmission had forced the extension and tougher rules. “This is spreading in an undetected way across the community, we are at tipping point,” he said. Victorian authorities say they are “very concerned” about COVID-19 spread across multiple Melbourne suburbs in which the source of the infection remains known, with more than 500 exposure sites now listed. Chief health officer Brett Sutton said it’s important to trace how the mystery Melton cases were transmitted and find out if there are any other unidentified cases in the area. “Our epidemiologists are working really hard to try and identify that particular family in terms of the shopping precinct or any other likely exposures,” he said. Victoria’s COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said Melton’s High Street retail area remains an area of significant worry. “Please come forward and get tested if you have any symptoms or have been to any exposure sites,” he said. Melton area exposure sites include Tabcorp Park, Woolworths at Coburns Central Shopping Centre, Tasman Butchers, VicRoads Melton, Bunnings Melton and a number of locations within Woodgrove Shopping Centre. Mr Weimar said he also asked Bacchus Marsh Grammar to close its Maddingley campus despite it being in a regional area because of the number of students travelling from various western suburbs metropolitan areas to access the school. Moorabool currently has no active cases linked with the latest outbreak, which forced a sixth citywide lockdown almost a fortnight ago.
A number of exposure sites have been identified at Woodgrove Shopping Centre.
Melton exposure site Lady and the Hair.
Melton VicRoads.
(Damjan Janevski) 247143
(Damjan Janevski) 247143
COVID testing at Melton fever clinic.
(Joe
Mastroianni) 245320
(Damjan Janevski) 247143
Victoria recorded 22 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Monday, 17 of which were linked to known outbreaks. Of the new cases, 14 had been in isolation throughout their infectious period. Health Minister Martin Foley said multiple outbreaks have created multiple exposure sites right across Melbourne. “Whilst we have genomic links, we still
don’t have a source of infections for a number of these positive cases,” he said. Testing capacity has been increased across the west including a new testing site at the Melton Seniors Community and Learning Centre and a new drive-through testing site located at the Melton Football and Netball Club in Toolern Vale. A total of 6643 tests were undertaken in
Melton last Tuesday compared to 814 on the same day the week prior – an eight-fold increase. The state government has praised the response to the new Melton drive-through vaccination site, with more than 1500 doses already administered. ■
COVID-19 outbreak: page 3
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