The Australian state of Victoria has recorded two new locally acquired cases of coronavirus, both linked to the Holiday Inn outbreak.
The state’s health department on Tuesday confirmed the state recorded four new COVID-19 cases—the other two in hotel quarantine—on the fourth day of its five-day “circuit breaker” lockdown.
Almost 24,000 people were tested for the virus on Monday.
The two locally acquired cases are household contacts of a previously confirmed case linked to the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport, bringing the size of the cluster to 19.
There are now 25 active cases across the state.
Local authorities are yet to rule out an extension to the five-day shutdown due to end on Wednesday.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton is waiting to see more data and concedes further cases stemming from the hotel cluster are reasonably likely to arise.
But he indicated they won’t necessarily sink Victoria’s chances if linked to the more than 3000 Victorians who are contacts of confirmed cases and now isolating.
“We’re hoping that all of those would occur in people that have already been identified, already been quarantined and would not generate any more exposure sites,” Professor Sutton told ABC radio on Monday.
“That’s the critical thing. We don’t want new cases to emerge where we hear that they’ve been to multiple public areas or gatherings.
“That’s, in essence, the reason for this five-day short, sharp lockdown.”
Premier Daniel Andrews says while he’s not yet in a position to confirm the lockdown will end as planned on Wednesday, the state is “well placed.”
“However I’ve never been one to try and make bold predictions. We just have to take this one hour at a time, one day at a time,” he said on Monday.
Overnight, two new exposure sites were revealed. Both are linked to Monday’s case of a COVID-positive woman who worked at psychiatric wards in Broadmeadows and Epping.
They involve Sacca’s Fruit World at Broadmeadows and the fruit and meat section of Broadmeadows Central shopping centre in Melbourne’s north.
Anyone who visited the greengrocer between 12:15 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9 has been told to isolate and get tested, while those at the second site from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. on the same day should monitor for symptoms.
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