Covid Victoria: As the New South Wales cluster spreads, Melbourne families are quarantined

After two Sydney COVID-positive migrants travelled to Victoria during the infection period, a new exposure site was discovered in Melbourne.

The Ariele apartment at Thomas Holmes St in Maribyrnong was identified as the first-level exposure site between July 8 and July 12.

Anyone who stays in the residential area of ​​the building (including residential foyer, stairwell, elevator, residential floor and parking lot) for five days must be tested immediately and quarantined for 14 days.

Coles Craigieburn Central is listed as a first-level exposure location, from 5.28 pm to 6.38 pm on July 10.

Metro Petroleum Broadmeadows was determined to be a level 2 exposure point between 1.19 pm and 2.04 pm on July 11. Anyone who is there during this period must be tested and quarantined until they get a negative result.

Craigieburn Central Shopping Center was identified as a Level 3 exposure site from 5:28 pm to 6:38 pm on July 10. People in the shopping center were warned to monitor symptoms.

A new exposure site was added on Monday night.

After more new viruses from New South Wales were discovered on Monday afternoon, Melbourne remained highly vigilant against Covid.

Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar revealed that of the three migrants who entered Victoria from Greater Sydney, two have so far tested positive.

The trio arrived in Melbourne on July 8, delivered the furniture to a four-person family in Craigieburn, and then visited another four-person family in Maribyrnong.

Both families are in isolation and are awaiting test results.

The migrants spent the night in Melbourne, claiming to sleep in their cabin, and then left the state on July 9 for South Australia, where a crew member was told that they were the main close contact of an infected person in New South Wales .

Authorities revealed that continued interviews with these people proved “complex and challenging” and the Ministry of Health was forced to check the gas cards and logs to confirm their actions.

Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said: “The information we get from these people about what they do is slightly different.”

“We are seeking to verify the nature of their business and the exact weight of their travel, and whether they have complied with these restrictions contained in the permit.”

At the same time, two members of a family of four in Hume have tested positive.

Three members arrived by plane on July 4, and the fourth family member arrived by car on July 8.

They are all quarantined under a red zone permit.

“Their initial test results were all negative. This highlights the importance of the red zone…all family members were tested shortly after arrival and the results were negative,” Mr. Weimar said.

“They continue to isolate. Two family members developed symptoms and were tested yesterday.

“We received their results later this morning and they all tested positive. The other two family members will be tested again today.”

Authorities believe that family members who travel by air are not contagious on the plane.

Health Minister Martin Foley warned Victorians that new exposure sites are expected to be listed.

“The deteriorating situation in New South Wales requires staying away from the hard work done by the Victorian community,” he said.

The minister also said that due to the latest panic, it is “premature” to say whether Victoria will face more restrictions.

New South Wales announced 112 new cases of infection on Monday.

Among them, 64 were related to known cases or clusters, of which 41 were from family contacts and 23 were from close contacts.

But the shocking 48 mysterious cases are still under investigation-96 cases are currently not related to the cluster.

“This is a big number, especially for the Delta variant,” Mr. Foley said.

“For our friends in New South Wales, this is a challenging time.”

The Sydney blockade was originally scheduled to end on Friday, but Governor Gladys Berejiklian declared the result “nearly impossible.”

As the situation in New South Wales deteriorated, the Victorian authorities once again launched a fierce attack on the federal government.

Acting Governor James Merlino said that he welcomes the federal government’s “financial support for New South Wales, its citizens and businesses”.

But he said that Victoria had to struggle desperately for “scrap”, which disappointed him.

Mr. Melino said: “I want to point out that we have to fight hard for what we get.”

“Their initial position is shameful.”

He also said that if allowed, the state government will try to get its own stimulus from Pfizer.

Claims that the federal government “gave up” in securing supplies.

“If the local government can get the vaccine, trust me, we will,” Mr. Melino said.

The border closed violently at midnight

At midnight, the border between New South Wales and the Capital Territory is closed, and may be closed for several weeks as the new crown virus epidemic is getting worse.

This stringent measure, now in effect, means that anyone returning from New South Wales must be tested and quarantined for 14 days.

However, travelers from the New South Wales security zone have begun to experience border chaos. They tested negative a few days ago and they falsely told them that they must now be isolated for two weeks.

The country’s chief medical officer has stepped in and announced that the Commonwealth does not support strict border closures.

At the time of the border chaos, there have been no local cases of infection in Victoria, and no new cases of coronavirus have been detected in the community or hotel quarantine in the past 24 hours.

More than 19,000 tests were conducted across the state and 12,000 doses of vaccine were given.

There are 19 active cases in Victoria.

Victoria’s hard-border initiative-which made New South Wales and the Capital Territory a red zone starting at midnight-came after calling holidaymakers to return home.

After the worsening crisis became deadly, Sydney was preparing for more than 100 new coronavirus cases on Monday.

Daniel Andrews urges anyone trying to enter Victoria to abide by the rules. Those who fail to do so will face a fine of up to $5,000 and will be sent home after being quarantined in the hotel.

The governor said: “We don’t want this virus to appear in our state. Everyone is responsible for protecting our Victorian community.” “If you do something wrong, you will be found, you will be fined, and you are very likely Became very, very famous.”

Acting Chief Health Officer Deb Friedman said the deteriorating Covid situation in New South Wales left the authorities with no choice. The state recorded 77 new cases on Sunday, and a 90-year-old Sydney woman who contracted the virus from her family died.

“As the number of cases in New South Wales continues to increase, Victorian public health authorities are concerned about the risk of transmission outside of the current red zone in Greater Sydney and its surrounding areas, and the potential risks to the Victorian community that people entering our state pose.” she says. .

Even before the border was closed, dental problems raised questions about whether Victoria’s permit system could meet demand.

Peter Brereton, a traveler who lives in a remote area of ​​New South Wales, entered Victoria with his wife after her mother died earlier on Friday.

However, even though they had been in quarantine before receiving the negative test, they sent a text message on Sunday stating that they must re-quarantine for 14 days.

“This really proves incompetence. They can’t align their ducks,” he said.

The Victorian Department of Health said the incident was isolated but will be investigated.

A border bubble will be in place so that locals can move freely while the border is closed.

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly said that the federal government does not agree to strict border closures.

“We don’t support it,” he said. “But we can understand-they want to make sure they are protected.”

State Senator Peter Walsh, based in Echuca, called the closure “hurried.”

“I know that people in New South Wales will not vote in our elections, but all our border communities rely heavily on the economic viability of each half; Daniel Andrews has just announced a punishment that is not in line with the crime. ,” Mr. Walsh said.

“And it is not enough to say that the bubble is still effective; the economy needs to cover the entire state of Victoria, not just a strip along the river.”

Jocelyn Robinson of Mulwala said it was a devastating blow. “The border communities are suffering again, it’s not fair,” she said. “We experienced the situation in Melbourne last year and now we are being punished for what happened hundreds of kilometers away from us.”

The mayor of Wodonga, Kev Poulton, said that residents’ anxiety has been increasing, but he welcomes the restoration of the border bubble.

“This time the community wants to see license plate inspections instead of hard checkpoints. The closure really split the city,” he said.

At the time of the border closure, after opposition leader Anthony Albanese stated that the new advertisement did not cut it, Lieutenant General John Friven, Covid’s Vaccine Task Force Coordinator, was forced to arm himself for the federal government’s new “The vaccine movement defended.

Nearly 9.1 million doses of Covid-19 have been injected nationwide, and Victoria has received the most vaccine injection-more than 1.2 million doses.

— Additional reporting: Miles Proust, Jed Gelberg, Braden May