A new community COVID-19 case has been reported in Victoria, in a man who recently left hotel quarantine in South Australia.
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The man tested positive for COVID-19 on May 11, after developing symptoms on May 8.
The man, who is aged in his 30s, completed his hotel quarantine last Tuesday and flew directly back to Melbourne before returning to his home at Wollert that day.
He developed symptoms on Saturday, got tested on Monday and returned a positive result this morning.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says he believes it's "absolutely the case" that the man in his 30s picked it up in quarantine in South Australia.
The Department of Health has provided a list of exposure sites linked to the positive case.
Tier 1 sites:
- Altona North - TIC Group (Front office) at 232 Blackshaws Rd, all day on Thursday 6 May
- Melbourne CBD - Curry Vault Indian Restaurant and Bar at 18-20 Bank Place, between 6:30pm and 9:30pm on Friday, 7 May
- Epping - Indiagate Spices and Groceries at Unit 14C/560-590 High St, between 5:00pm to 6:00pm on Saturday, 8 May
- Epping - Woolworths Epping, Cnr Cooper and High St in Epping, between 5:40pm and 6:38pm on Saturday, 8 May
Tier 2 sites:
- Altona North - TIC Group (rear warehouse section) at 232 Blackshaws Rd, all day on Thursday 6 May
- Epping - 7Eleven at 705 High St (corner Cooper St), between 6:30pm and 7:00pm on Thursday 6 May
- Epping - 7Eleven at 705 High St (corner Cooper St), between 11:10am and 11:40am on Saturday 8 May
The man departed India via the Maldives, via Singapore, into Adelaide, Health Minister Martin Foley said during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
"The department was notified of the positive result this morning, May 11," he said.
"The department arranged for further urgent testing to confirm that diagnosis, and that retest has come back early this afternoon, and it has been declared a positive case.
"We have urgently tested the three household contacts and the good news is that all three primary household contacts have returned a negative test result.
"Can I take this as an opportunity to remind Victorians this global pandemic is a long way from over.
"If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, chills or sweats or a change in your sense of smell or taste, you need to get tested immediately.
"It is the most important thing you can do to keep yourself safe, and to keep your community safe."
One of the most important things that you can do is to get yourself vaccinated as soon as possible.
- Health Minister Martin Foley
Mr Foley urged the federal government to assist states in rolling out hotel quarantine.
"There is no such thing as a foolproof hotel quarantine facility, which is why this evening's national budget is a golden opportunity for the Commonwealth to step up and do its constitutional duty and fund, with the states, broad quarantine facilities such as that proposed by Victoria," he said.
"There is example after example of leakage out of hotel quarantine that continues and this would appear to be another example.
"There is every indication that we are going to be in a position of some form of closed borders for many, many months, if not years.
"Yes, we need to make sure we get as quickly as possible to the highest level of vaccination programs, but with variance a concern, with the need of likely top ups in vaccination programs, we are going to need a strong border control and a strong quarantine control likely for years.
"We cannot continue to have a situation where it is the states disproportionately bearing the load in this quarantine process.
"Tonight's budget is an opportunity for the federal government to step up and do its bit and see to its constitutional duty of managing quarantine in partnership with the states."
It urged anyone to get tested immediately if they had symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, chills, sweats, or a change in sense of smell or taste.
Prior to this Victoria had reported no community COVID-19 cases for 73 consecutive days.
A full list of testing sites is available online at: dhhs.vic.gov.au/getting-tested.
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