Victorian cases rise

COMMUNITY transmission of the coronavirus in Victoria remains a concern, with 18 new cases recorded, taking the state’s total to 1780.

Six new cases are returning travellers in hotel quarantine, while one is linked to a known outbreak, eight to community testing and three are under investigation. There are now 81 active cases in the state.

“Clearly, we do have community transmission in Victoria and I want to reiterate the message to Victorians to take this issue seriously,” Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said yesterday.

“Many of these cases are people with very, very mild symptoms, but they’ve done the right thing and gone and been tested, and that is how we will manage the spread of the virus.”

Of the routine testing cases, one is a childcare worker and another is a child, forcing the shutdown of two centres.

A worker from Learning Centre Pakenham attended the centre for one day while infectious and it will now be closed for the rest of the week.

The other is Guardian Childcare and Education in Prahran, which an infected child attended for one day.

That centre will be closed for deep cleaning, contact tracing and risk assessment.

A third Black Lives Matter protester has also tested positive but it is understood they were not infectious during the rally earlier this month.

Friends of the protester will be tested, though, and retailer H&M at Northland, where the protester works, will also be closed today.

One of the new cases is linked to the Croydon Family Practice outbreak, taking that total to five.

The figures come a day after Victoria recorded 21 new cases, including 16 overseas travellers in quarantine.

Ms Mikakos said while Victoria was recording substantial numbers, she did not think the virus was getting out of control.