Victoria has recorded another 26 Covid-19 cases overnight as hundreds more residents were ordered into self-isolation after a famous inner-city market was exposed to the virus.
The state’s Department of Health said the new cases were all linked to known outbreaks.
Thursday’s increase is the highest daily rise in Victoria since September 18 of last year when the state was hit by a deadly second wave of cases.
Prahran Market meanwhile in Melbourne’s inner south-east has been declared a tier-one exposure site after a shopper visited at least six stalls while infectious.
All customers and staff who were at the market between 9.40am and 11.15am on July 17 must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days.
An inner-city market, a BWS and a Woolworths supermarket are among the string of new venues exposed to Covid-19 in Victoria
‘We have just been made aware that a confirmed COVID-positive shopper visited Prahran Market on Saturday the 17th of July between 9.40am and 11.15am,’ a spokesman for the market said.
‘[The Department of Health] advises us that the customer visited a number of traders including Pete n Rosie’s Deli, Q le Baker, Prahran Seafoods, John Cester’s Poultry and Game, Gary’s Quality Meats, Reliable Fruit and Veg and Market Lane Coffee.
The market will be closed on Thursday for deep cleaning.
A BWS and a Woolworths supermarket were overnight among a string of other venues announced as Covid-19 exposure sites in Victoria.
The sites were listed on Wednesday night as Victorians endured their first day of the extended seven-day lockdown brought in to stem the spread of the highly-contagious Delta variant.
The BWS liquor store in Caulfield North, in Melbourne’s south-east, was exposed to the virus on July 15 between 3.25pm to 3.50pm.
Those who stopped by the bottle shop during these times must isolate for 14 days regardless of a Covid test result.
Anyone who visited the Sunbury Square Medical Centre on July 19 from 6pm to 8.30pm must also isolate for two weeks regardless of a negative Covid result
The adjacent Woolworths supermarket was also listed during the same times but those who attended the store are only casual contacts meaning they only need to isolate until given a negative result.
The popular Craigieburn Central shopping mall, in northern Melbourne, was also exposed to the virus with shoppers who visited the centre on July 15 from 3pm to 6.15pm urged to get tested and isolate immediately.
Of Wednesday’s 22 new locally-acquired cases, just six were in the community while infectious.
The state has 18,000 primary contacts and another 10,000 secondary contacts affected by the current outbreak who have been tracked and traced.
Meanwhile, those who visited the Sunbury Square Medical Centre in Sunbury, north-west of Melbourne’s CBD, on July from 6pm to 8.30pm must isolate for two weeks regardless of their Covid test results.
The same rules apply to diners at the Solunar Cafe in Mildura, in north-western Victoria on July 12 from 2.15pm to 2.30pm.
The sites were listed on Wednesday night following 22 new local cases recorded in Victoria as residents endure their first day of the extended seven-day lockdown to stem the spread of the highly-contagious Delta variant
Just six of the new infections recorded on Wednesday in Victoria were out in the community while infectious (pictured residents walking in Melbourne’s CBD)
The Craigieburn Central shopping mall, in northern Melbourne, was also exposed to the virus with shoppers who visited the centre on July 15 from 3:00pm to 6:15pm urged to get tested and isolate immediately
Victorians are in the midst of their fifth lockdown due to a recent outbreak of coronavirus (pictured vaccination clinic on Chapel Street in Melbourne)
A tram service in the City of Yarra has also been put on Covid alert – as has an Australian Post Shop in Narre Warren North in Melbourne’s south-east.
The growing list of exposed venues around the state is bad news for Victorians who are in the midst of their fifth lockdown.
The state’s health minister Martin Foley said however it was positive so few cases were out in the community while infectious.
‘What this means is that our contact tracers and our restrictions are working in tandem to beat this virus,’ said Mr Foley.
‘That should give us confidence that this process is working, and it is working because millions of Victorians are backing it in and doing the right thing.’