Victoria records 4 new local Covid cases after two ‘false positives’ revealed
Jun 4, 2021 9:35:02 GMT 10
Post by EZWarren on Jun 4, 2021 9:35:02 GMT 10
Victorian health officials confirmed four new positive local coronavirus cases on Friday morning.
The new cases takes the number of local cases in the state’s latest outbreak to 65.
The health department also confirmed two new cases in hotel quarantine, which takes the number of active cases in Victoria to 72.
The results came from more than 49,000 tests, while 24,169 vaccine doses were also administered.
It comes after it was revealed on Thursday evening two Victorians thought to have caught Covid-19 by “fleeting contact” had been reclassified as “false positives”.
The cases include a woman who was previously understood to have acquired the virus at a Metricon display homes exposure site and a man who was thought to have contracted the virus at the Brighton Beach Hotel exposure site.
“These cases will be reclassified and no longer considered confirmed cases,” the health department said on Thursday night.
“Primary close contacts who are linked only to these cases and not to other exposure sites will be released.”
The health department said the Brighton Beach Hotel and the Metricon display home suite would remain exposure sites as they were linked to other cases.
The two previously thought to be positive cases were used by the state’s top health officials as part of their justification for the extended lockdown in Melbourne.
The two cases were thought to be a group of at least four incidents where the virus was spread by “fleeting contact”.
Pressure is now mounting on acting Premier James Merlino and chief health officer Brett Sutton to justify Melbourne’s extended lockdown and publicly release the health advice that led to it.
When asked on Friday morning if the lockdown could be cut short given the false positives, Mr Merlino said the government’s answer hadn’t changed overnight.
“And nor should it, it is absolutely based on public health advice and that is assessed day by day, hour by hour,” he said.
“The proposition put forward by public health was that we needed this further seven-day period for Greater Melbourne to absolutely run this thing into the ground (and) that remains the case.
“My expectation is next week I will be in a position, based on public health advice, to announce further easings in regional Victoria and some careful easing of restrictions in Melbourne.”
Mr Merlino said Health Minister Martin Foley and public health officials would be able to go into further detail later in the day.
Melbourne’s lockdown has been extended for seven days until 11.59pm on June 10 with only five reasons to leave home, while regional Victoria had restrictions eased overnight.
“We’re concerned about evidence, in four or five incidents, where we have seen transmission in these places with very fleeting contact,” Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar said earlier this week.
“We have transmission in places like the Telstra store in South Melbourne, JMD Grocers (in Epping), the Mickleham display home and at Craigieburn Central shopping centre.
“And they’re all examples of transmission with very limited contact. This is stranger-to-stranger transmission.”
Four Mernda line train services were also added to the exposure list of more than 370 places and venues that have been visited by a person with a confirmed case of coronavirus.
Victorians have been urged to check the state government’s website for the full and frequently changing list.
The new cases takes the number of local cases in the state’s latest outbreak to 65.
The health department also confirmed two new cases in hotel quarantine, which takes the number of active cases in Victoria to 72.
The results came from more than 49,000 tests, while 24,169 vaccine doses were also administered.
It comes after it was revealed on Thursday evening two Victorians thought to have caught Covid-19 by “fleeting contact” had been reclassified as “false positives”.
The cases include a woman who was previously understood to have acquired the virus at a Metricon display homes exposure site and a man who was thought to have contracted the virus at the Brighton Beach Hotel exposure site.
“These cases will be reclassified and no longer considered confirmed cases,” the health department said on Thursday night.
“Primary close contacts who are linked only to these cases and not to other exposure sites will be released.”
The health department said the Brighton Beach Hotel and the Metricon display home suite would remain exposure sites as they were linked to other cases.
The two previously thought to be positive cases were used by the state’s top health officials as part of their justification for the extended lockdown in Melbourne.
The two cases were thought to be a group of at least four incidents where the virus was spread by “fleeting contact”.
Pressure is now mounting on acting Premier James Merlino and chief health officer Brett Sutton to justify Melbourne’s extended lockdown and publicly release the health advice that led to it.
When asked on Friday morning if the lockdown could be cut short given the false positives, Mr Merlino said the government’s answer hadn’t changed overnight.
“And nor should it, it is absolutely based on public health advice and that is assessed day by day, hour by hour,” he said.
“The proposition put forward by public health was that we needed this further seven-day period for Greater Melbourne to absolutely run this thing into the ground (and) that remains the case.
“My expectation is next week I will be in a position, based on public health advice, to announce further easings in regional Victoria and some careful easing of restrictions in Melbourne.”
Mr Merlino said Health Minister Martin Foley and public health officials would be able to go into further detail later in the day.
Melbourne’s lockdown has been extended for seven days until 11.59pm on June 10 with only five reasons to leave home, while regional Victoria had restrictions eased overnight.
“We’re concerned about evidence, in four or five incidents, where we have seen transmission in these places with very fleeting contact,” Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar said earlier this week.
“We have transmission in places like the Telstra store in South Melbourne, JMD Grocers (in Epping), the Mickleham display home and at Craigieburn Central shopping centre.
“And they’re all examples of transmission with very limited contact. This is stranger-to-stranger transmission.”
Four Mernda line train services were also added to the exposure list of more than 370 places and venues that have been visited by a person with a confirmed case of coronavirus.
Victorians have been urged to check the state government’s website for the full and frequently changing list.