A number of household and social close contacts of a COVID-positive testing site traffic controller are being tested for the virus and isolating as health officials list four new exposure sites linked to the new mystery case.
Victoria recorded nine new local coronavirus cases on Wednesday. Eight were announced via the usual morning tweet, all linked to the current outbreaks and all in quarantine throughout their entire infectious period.
A testing site at Mooney Valley Racecourse has been closed after a traffic controller tested positive.Credit:Nine News
But the ninth case was revealed at a late-morning COVID-19 briefing. Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the young man was not a primary close contact of a known case.
Mr Foley said the traffic controller had worked at the Moonee Valley Racecourse drive-through testing site for two days while infectious.
The site has now been closed, and all staff who worked alongside the man are isolating. The Health Department said it planned to open the centre on Thursday following a deep clean.
“[The new case is] not an existing primary close contact, and we do know that symptoms began on Monday evening with the person. They were tested Tuesday, and the positive result has come in this morning,” Mr Foley said.
“Case interviews are underway to get an understanding of the movements, and the interactions of this person.”
Mr Foley said authorities believed the new case presented “minimal risk” to those who received a COVID-19 test at the site.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton echoed that sentiment, saying “the risk to individuals coming through in their cars is extremely low, really”.
“But if you’ve wound down your window to speak to a traffic controller at that site, that might put you at a slightly greater risk,” Mr Sutton said.
“I think it’s more about where he’s acquired it from rather than the risk to those coming through, because most people would drive through without winding their window down until they’re getting tested.
“But, for everyone who is symptomatic, obviously just ... isolate and get tested and await a result.”
Authorities said they would look to see whether anyone who attended the Moonee Valley Racecourse testing site subsequently tested positive to COVID-19.
One person who visited the testing site last week told The Age that aside from having to show identification on entry, there was little interaction with most traffic staff at the car-only site.
Health authorities revealed four new tier-2 COVID-19 exposure sites linked to the new mystery case on Wednesday afternoon. Tier 2 means anyone who attended the sites during the specified timeframes has to get tested for COVID and isolate until they return a negative result.
The new sites are in Frankston and Frankston South, south-east of Melbourne’s CBD. One is the Karingal Hub Shopping Centre, which has been declared an exposure site on Saturday, July 24 between 11.45am and 12.40pm.
Two of the new sites are supermarkets – a Coles at the Karingal shopping centre and Ritchies IGA at Tower Hill in Frankston – while the fourth new site is a service station in Frankston South, United Petroleum Baxter.
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David Estcourt is a court and general news reporter at The Age.
Cassandra Morgan is a breaking news reporter at The Age.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWFnZS5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdmljdG9yaWEvbmV3LXZpY3Rvcmlhbi1teXN0ZXJ5LWNvdmlkLTE5LWNhc2Utd29ya2VkLWF0LXRlc3RpbmctY2xpbmljLTIwMjEwNzI4LXA1OGRxdi5odG1s0gF9aHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlYWdlLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS9uZXctdmljdG9yaWFuLW15c3RlcnktY292aWQtMTktY2FzZS13b3JrZWQtYXQtdGVzdGluZy1jbGluaWMtMjAyMTA3MjgtcDU4ZHF2Lmh0bWw?oc=5
2021-07-28 05:19:49Z
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