ANOTHER three locally acquired COVID-19 cases have been identified in Victoria, on top of three women whose positive tests ended a two-month streak yesterday.<\/p>\n
Two women in their 40s and a woman in her 70s from Mitcham, Hallam and Mentone were revealed on Wednesday night as having tested positive. Two of the women are family members.<\/p>\n
It’s believed the cases are tied to outbreaks in Sydney.<\/p>\n
One of the women and two close contacts attended the Smile Buffalo Thai restaurant in Blackrock on 21 December, as did a returned traveller from NSW, acting Premier Jacinta Allan said this morning.<\/p>\n
That traveller returned to NSW before border permits were put in place and is being tested as a matter of urgency.<\/p>\n
Anyone who was at the restaurant on that night is being urged to get tested immediately.<\/p>\n
Ms Allan said more information about the additional three cases – all close contacts identified through contact tracing – would be released later on Thursday.<\/p>\n
She also imposed new restrictions for Victorians celebrating the new year, with a new limit of 15 visitors to households and reinstated mandatory masks at all indoor venues.<\/p>\n
The new Blackrock exposure site is on top of a series of locations released by the health department late on Wednesday, with exposure dates between Boxing Day and December 28.<\/p>\n
They include Katlialo restaurant in Eaton Mall in Oakleigh; Mentone\/Parkdale Beach; Century City Walk and Mocha Jo’s in Glen Waverley; Kmart, Big W Target, Millers, King of Gifts and Lo Costa stores at the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, and the Holy Family Catholic church at Doveton.<\/p>\n
Contact tracing has identified more than 50 primary close contacts of the women, who are isolating at home.<\/p>\n
Victoria’s testing chief Jeroen Weimar expects more close contacts to emerge.<\/p>\n
“We have been in this position before and we are deploying our full outbreak approach around these cases,” Mr Weimar said.<\/p>\n
“We always knew this virus had us in a precarious position and we need to make sure we do everything we can to stamp out any further transmissions.”<\/p>\n
Victoria has also announced tighter border restrictions with NSW, adding to bans on the northern beaches, Greater Sydney and Central Coast.<\/p>\n
From Friday, anyone travelling from Wollongong and the Blue Mountains in NSW will not be allowed to enter Victoria.<\/p>\n
Anyone already in Victoria who travelled to those regions since 27 December should get tested and stay at home until their results come back.<\/p>\n
Until Wednesday, Victoria had been on a 60-day streak of no locally acquired coronavirus cases.<\/p>\n
Despite the run, celebrations for the new year in Victoria were already going to be muted on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
“It has been a very hard year and we have done an incredible thing as Victorians – let’s not risk it as we celebrate the end of 2020,” Police Minister Lisa Neville said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a NSW woman, 57, has been arrested after speeding through a checkpoint in East Gippsland on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The woman is from Bateau Bay on the NSW Central Coast, a designated red zone.<\/p>\n
Police had to use a tyre deflation device to stop her car.<\/p>\n
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