‘A very concerning day’: 29 new COVID-19 cases as public housing tower declared an exposure site

Victoria recorded 29 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases yesterday.

The new cases were not in isolation while infectious.

All the cases are linked, but Premier Daniel Andrews says today’s figure is “very significant”.

“We don’t know where those two outbreaks started so there are mystery cases that sit behind this.

“This is a very concerning day.”

Four of today’s cases are family members in the City of Maribyrnong cluster.

The other 25 are linked to the Hobsons Bay cluster:

• One family member of the original Hobsons Bay case
• Four linked to the Spectacle Hub in Caroline Springs (1 staff, 1 customer, 2 household contacts)
• One teammate of the Newport Football Club case
• One case linked to the Australian Islamic Centre in Newport
• One staff member at the Wolf Cafe and Eatery in Altona North
• All other cases are associate with a staff member and students at Al-Taqwa College (14 students, 1 staff member, 1 household member)

New exposure sites have been identified in Caroline Springs, Taylors Hill and Flemington today.

Among the new sites is the public housing tower at 130 Racecourse Road in Flemington. Eight residents in the builsing, all from the same family, have tested positive and have been relocated. The floor the residents lived on has been declared Tier 1, and the rest of the building is a Tier 2 site from August 3 to 6.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF EXPOSURE SITES HERE

There are currently seven people in Victorian hospitals with COVID-19. Two are on ventilators in intensive care.

There were 43,618 test results received yesterday and 22,335 vaccine doses administered.

The 29 new locally-acquired cases are all linked to previously reported cases and were not in quarantine during their infectious periods. [2/2]

— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 6, 2021

Image: Darrian Traynor / Getty