McDonald’s drive through, Coles supermarkets and a Woolworths are added to Victoria’s long list of Covid-19 exposure sites as the state eases out of lockdown
- There are 140 venues on high alert as of Friday, down from 400 earlier this week
- The new venues added on Friday are considered Tier 2 exposure sites
- Anyone who visited need to get tested and isolate until they get a negative result
A McDonald’s drive through, and a Coles and Woolworths supermarket has been added to Victoria’s growing list of Covid exposure sites.
There are still 140 venues on the public health exposure list as of Friday morning, down from 400 earlier in the week.
McDonald’s drive through in Thomastown, Coles at Warringal Shopping Centre, Woolworths at Bundoora Square Shopping Centre and Gami Chicken & Beer in Epping were among the new venues added on Friday.
The new venues are considered Tier 2 exposure sites, requiring patrons who visited during the relevant times to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Health authorities are still trying to work out how four members of a Melbourne family with no known links to current outbreaks tested positive for the virus.
Victorian health officials had started interviewing a couple late on Thursday after they travelled through NSW to Queensland and tested positive, sparking health alerts in those states.
While the easing of restrictions went ahead as planned, Melburnians must continue to wear masks indoors and outdoors
Also on Thursday, wastewater detections of the virus were reported in the suburban Pascoe Vale, Scoresby and Vermont areas.
Anyone developing symptoms in those areas is urged to get tested.
And six more public exposure sites were added for Bundoora, Heidelberg and Thomastown in Melbourne, dating from May 28 to June 7.
While the easing of restrictions went ahead as planned, Melburnians must continue to wear masks indoors and outdoors.
Initially, masks were no longer going to be compulsory outdoors, so long as social distancing was maintained.
Thursday’s four new cases are from the same Reservoir household in Melbourne’s north.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said the family were not close contacts of previous cases and hadn’t visited any listed exposure sites, although they live close to the City of Whittlesea outbreak.
‘These new cases are really the strongest reminder that we are by no means out of the woods yet,’ Prof Cheng said.
Authorities were also awaiting genomic testing to see if they have the Delta or Kappa strain of the virus.
Their close contacts are self-isolating and some have already returned negative tests.
Meanwhile, the couple who drove to Queensland remain under investigation and it is unclear how they caught the virus.
The woman left Melbourne with her husband on June 1, when the city was in lockdown, and tested positive at the end of a road trip through NSW and into Queensland.
Her husband has now tested positive as well, although it appears they are late in their infection period.
According to Queensland health authorities, the couple did not apply for a travel exemption to enter the state.
There are 78 active cases across the state, down five from Wednesday.