Canberra records three news cases of COVID-19 from people in Melbourne

Victoria’s deadly coronavirus outbreak has spread to Canberra as three new cases are reported after two people arrived from Melbourne.

The new cases are in one female and two males all aged in their 20s who live in the same household.

Two of the new infections had arrived in the ACT on Thursday after visiting a Melbourne hot spot. 

All three had visited the ACT’s Fyshwick Markets on Saturday and Westfield Belconnen on Monday – before they were tested.

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said anybody who had visited those areas should monitor themselves for symptoms.  

‘We are confident the risk to the broader ACT community is low,’ Dr Coleman said.

‘However this is a very important reminder of the ongoing pandemic and the risk posed by the outbreak currently evolving in Melbourne.

‘Anyone who has been in Melbourne in the past two weeks should monitor themselves for symptoms and be vigilant.’

The new cases are the first infections in the territory in a month and brings the total number to 111. 

The border closed in the ACT at 12.01 on Wednesday from anyone travelling from Victoria.  

It comes after the whole of Melbourne was locked down due to a surge in coronavirus cases. 

There are fears of another outbreak in NSW after a Melbourne teenager on holiday with his family in New South Wales tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. 

The boy was tested before he left Victoria and the result came back negative. But after arriving in NSW on July 4, the family was told there had been an error and the boy was positive.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the family members, who did not come from a Melbourne hotspot suburb, were isolating in Merimbula, a town in the state’s southeast. 

The only place they visited was the Tathra Hotel, which had taken the details of 80 patrons there at the time and all of them have been contacted by NSW Health. 

More to come.