Three people have been infected with coronavirus in the northern Victorian town of Shepparton, prompting authorities to ask everyone in the area to get tested.
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The new cases were announced late on Tuesday night by the state's Commander of Testing Jeroen Weimar and could signal the beginnings of a new cluster in the region.
The three positive COVID-19 cases are linked to the Chadstone outbreak.
"We have three active cases that are self-isolating at home and are being monitored by Goulburn Valley Health," he said in a statement.
Contact tracing is underway.
"We expect as part of that effort, further cases will be discovered," Mr Weimar warned.
From Wednesday, testing sites will open at GV Health's Acute Respiratory Clinic in Shepparton and at the showgrounds, with more expected to be set up as the day progresses.
Health authorities are advising all Shepparton residents to get tested and stay at home until they get their results.
High risk locations in Shepparton include:
- Central Tyre Service, Welsford Street Shepparton from Wednesday, September 30 to Tuesday, October 13.
- Bunnings Warehouse, Midland Highway Shepparton Friday, October 2.
- McDonalds Shepparton North, 175 Midland Highway Shepparton Saturday, October 3.
- Mooroopna Golf Club Members Bar, Sunday, October 4 and Pro Shop and Members Bar Sunday, October 11.
- Shepparton Market Place Medical Centre, Midland Highway Shepparton Thursday, October 8.
- Lemon Tree Café, Fryers Street Shepparton.
- Thai Orchid Restaurant, Nixon Street Shepparton on Wednesday, October 7 from 7.00pm to 8.30pm, and
- Bombshell Hairdressing, Fryers Street Shepparton on Wednesday, October 7 9.30am to 10.30am.
The Chadstone cluster seeped into regional Victoria last week when a person associated with the outbreak dined at a Kilmore cafe.
Kilmore is about 120km south of Shepparton and it is not known if cases in the two towns are linked.
A COVID-19 case has emerged among the school community at Bairnsdale Secondary College in East Gippsland.
The school will not close because the infected person did not attend the school while infectious, according to a post on the school's Facebook page.
Meanwhile, the state's chief health officer Brett Sutton has defended Victoria's coronavirus restrictions against comparisons with NSW where health authorities have been more lenient.
Victoria recorded 12 new cases on Tuesday - the state's sixth straight day of double-digit infections.
NSW had 13 new infections, the majority of which were locally acquired.
Asking why Victorians were subject to a strict lockdown unlike their northern neighbours, Professor Sutton said circumstances were not the same.
"The differences are really profound," he said.
"Through this second wave, the 20,000 cases that occurred across Victoria settled into the hardest cohorts and populations across the state.
"The number of close contacts per household and the number of close contacts they have are hugely different."
An opposition no-confidence motion against Premier Daniel Andrews handling of the pandemic failed in in parliament on Tuesday night.
As Melbourne's 14-day rolling new case average rose to 10 on Tuesday, Mr Andrews reiterated Victoria's roadmap out of lockdown will likely be revised before he unveils some rule relaxations on Sunday.
Of the 12 new cases reported on Tuesday, seven are being investigated for links to the Box Hill Hospital outbreak, including four from the same household.
One is linked to the Chadstone outbreak through a household contact and another is linked to the Estia Keilor aged care facility.
A Geelong case is being reviewed and might turn out to be a false positive.
The state's death toll from the virus is 811 and the national figure is 899.
Elsewhere, Nazareth College in Melbourne's southeast has been cleared to reopen on Wednesday after a year 12 student tested positive.
Australian Associated Press
