Victoria's Holiday Inn hotel quarantine outbreak has hit 11, with another worker and the spouses of two other staff members testing positive for coronavirus.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
COVID-19 testing commander Jeroen Weimar said a fourth worker had returned a positive result on Thursday afternoon.
The female assistant manager was tested on Wednesday and had been isolating as a close contact of a fellow Holiday Inn worker.
It follows the male partners of two food and beverage workers testing positive earlier on Thursday after being placed into isolation as primary household close contacts.
"We have, at this point, no significant concern," Mr Weimar told reporters.
"It doesn't extend the scope of our investigation."
The outbreak now encompasses four workers, two staff spouses, two released guests and a family of three who contracted the virus overseas.
IN OTHER NEWS
Mr Weimar said genomic sequencing confirmed the fifth and six cases linked to the outbreak have the highly infectious UK strain of COVID-19.
"It is our working assumption therefore that all 11 cases associated with the Holiday Inn cluster are all of the UK variant," he said.
"We need to be sure we keep running faster than the virus to ensure we run it to ground."
The outbreak has prompted several states to tighten their borders to travellers from Greater Melbourne.
South Australia locked out travellers from the Victorian capital at midnight on Thursday, while Queensland will bar entry to visitors of the city's exposure sites from 1am on Saturday.
Western Australia also announced its hard border to Victoria would be extended for at least another seven days.
In addition to tightening interstate borders, the outbreak has forced the hotel's closure, a pause on a planned increase to Victoria's weekly international travellers cap and multiple health alerts for potential exposure sites.
Authorities suspect a nebuliser, which vaporises medications into a fine mist, may be to blame for the outbreak.
The medical device was not declared by one of the family members in quarantine, who has an underlying health condition and was taken to intensive care on Tuesday.
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said the guest would have been taken to a medi-hotel if they had reported it.
More than 135 hotel staff were stood down and told to get tested and isolate at home for 14 days, while 48 guests were moved to the Pullman Melbourne to quarantine for at least another three days.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said it was possible everyone on that hotel floor had been exposed to the virus through the air.
There have been cases of COVID-19 transmission detected across three Victorian quarantine hotels within a week.
Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said the UK strain had "blown open cracks" in hotel quarantine infection controls.
Victorian minister Jacinta Allan said program infection measures were constantly monitored and reviewed when issues arose.
"We're operating this program under the highest, strictest of standards," she told reporters.
Deputy Opposition Leader David Davis said the state government had not learned from shortcomings in the previous iteration of the hotel quarantine program.
"It's clear there are deficiencies," he said.
But Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in Melbourne's outer southeast on Thursday to spruik the federal government's HomeBuilder plan, is not worried about the outbreak.
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't confident," he told reporters at Officer.
-AAP
FULL COVID-19 EXPOSURE SITES
- Brighton - North Point Cafe, 2B North Rd, Brighton, VIC 3186. 8:10am - 9:30am 31/1/2021 Case dined outside and used bathroom
- Brandon Park Kmart - Brandon Park Shopping Centre, Cnr Springvale Rd and Ferntree Gully Rd, Brandon Park, VIC 3170 4:35pm - 5:10pm 31/1/2021 Case attended venue
- Clayton South Nakama Workshop - 85 Main Rd, Clayton South, VIC 3169 11:15am - 12:00pm 1/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Glen Waverley Commonwealth Bank - 28-32 Kingsway, Glen Waverley, 1:30pm-2:15pm 9/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Glen Waverley HSBC Bank - 38 Kingsway, Glen Waverley 2:15pm-3:30pm 9/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Heatherton Melbourne Golf Academy - 385 Centre Dandenong Rd, Heatherton, VIC 3202 5:19pm - 6:35pm 1/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Keysborough - Aces Sporting Club (Driving Range), Cnr Springvale Rd and Hutton Rd, Keysborough, VIC 3173 10:00pm - 11:15pm 30/1/2021 Case attended venue
- Keysborough Kmart, Parkmore Keysborough Shopping Centre - C/317 Cheltenham Rd, Keysborough, VIC 3173 4:00pm - 5:00pm 31/1/2021 Case attended venue
- Maidstone Marciano's Cakes - 126 Mitchell St, Maidstone VIC 3012 9:45am - 10:25am 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Melbourne Exford Hotel - 199 Russell St, Melbourne, VIC 3000 11:00pm - 11:35pm 29/1/2021 Case attended bottle shop
- Moorabbin Airport Lululemon, DFO Moorabbin - Shop G-039/250 Centre Dandenong Rd, Moorabbin VIC 3194 5:00pm - 5:45pm 1/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Noble Park - Club Noble, 46/56 Moodemere St Noble Park VIC 3174 2:36pm -3:30pm 30/01/2021 Case attended venue
- Springvale Bunnings Springvale - 849 Princes Hwy, Springvale, VIC 3171 11:30am - 12:15pm 1/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Springvale Coles Springvale - 825 Dandenong Rd, Springvale, VIC 3171 5:00pm - 6:00pm 31/1/2021 Case attended venue
- Springvale Sharetea Springvale - 27C Buckingham Ave, Springvale, VIC 3171 6:50pm - 7:30pm 1/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Springvale Woolworths Springvale - 302 Springvale Rd, Springvale, VIC 3171 6:30pm - 7:30pm 1/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury Cellarbrations - 34 Batman Avenue, Sunbury VIC 3429 5:44pm - 6:19pm 7/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury Cellarbrations - 34 Batman Avenue, Sunbury VIC 3429 6:17pm - 7:02pm 6/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury Sunny Life Massage - Sunbury Square Shopping Centre, 2-28 Evans Street, Sunbury VIC 3429 4:30pm - 6:30pm 6/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury PJ's Pet Warehouse - Shop 2, 104 Horne Street, Sunbury VIC 3429 3:37pm - 4:10pm 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury Bakers Delight - Sunbury Square Shopping Centre - 2-28 Evans Street, Sunbury VIC 3429 3:40pm - 4:15pm 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury Aldente Deli - Sunbury Square Shopping Centre, 2-28 Evans Street Sunbury VIC 3429 3:45pm - 4:23pm 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury Sushi Sushi - Sunbury Square Shopping Centre, 2-28 Evans Street, Sunbury VIC 3429 3:53pm - 4:28pm 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunbury Asian Star - Sunbury Square Shopping Centre, 2-28 Evans Street, Sunbury VIC 3429 3:57pm - 4:30pm 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunshine Dan Murphy's - 47 McIntyre Rd, Sunshine VIC 3020 5:50pm - 6:30pm 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Sunshine Dan Murphy's - 47 McIntyre Rd, Sunshine VIC 3020 6:50pm - 7:30pm 6/2/2021 Case attended venue
- Taylors Lakes Off Ya Tree Watergardens - 399 Melton Highway, Taylors Lakes VIC 3038 1:00pm - 1:52pm 6/2/2021 Case attended venue
- West Melbourne Kebab Kingz - 438 Spencer St, West Melbourne, VIC 3003 11:24pm -12:15am 29/1/2021 Case dined outside
- Sunbury - Sunbury Square Shopping Centre, 2-28 Evans street, Sunbury, 3:40pm - 4:30pm 5/2/2021 Case attended venue
