By Cam Lucadou-Wells
No new community transmission of Covid-19 has been detected in the two days since a Noble Park man working in hotel quarantine tested positive, the State Government has announced.
Sixteen of 17 close contacts of the 26-year-old who worked at an Australian Open quarantine hotel have tested negative, Premier Daniel Andrews said on 5 February.
The one remaining contact’s results were pending.
The close contacts remain in isolation for 14 days – the incubation period of the virus.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the man was infected with the UK strain of the virus.
Though still unsure of how the infection occurred, Professor Sutton was confident it was caught from one of four tennis-hotel residents with the same strain, rather than from the community.
By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Extra drive-through Covid-19 testing sites have opened in response to long queues sparked by a Noble Park quarantine worker’s infection.
The Department of Health announced five new testing stations including Jan Wilson Community Centre in Noble Park North and Monash University, Clayton.
Walk-in testing at Monash Health in Cleeland Street, Dandenong and drive-throughs at Carroll Lane, Dandenong and Springers Leisure Centre, Keysborough will open for extended hours.
On 4 February, wait times of up to three hours were reported at South East testing stations. Some were forced to briefly close due to exceeding capacity.
An urgent call for testing was sparked by a 26-year-old Noble Park man working in tennis hotel quarantine testing positive on 3 February.