Five million Melbourne residents are bracing for lockdown once again as a Covid-19 cluster grows to 13, with five new cases reported on Friday.
Victorian ministers held a cabinet meeting at 11.45am to discuss a five-day lockdown that could involve confining residents to their homes except for essential reasons and closing schools and businesses.
The restrictions are expected to come into play on Friday evening after Premier Daniel Andrews gives a press conference at 1pm.
A city-wide lockdown could see fans banned from the Australian Open with Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Aussie superstar Nick Kyrgios due to play on Friday.
COVID exposure sites updated
VICTORIA’S 28-day run without COVID-19 recorded in the community was broken on 3 February.
A hotel quarantine worker tested positive to COVID-19 after last working at the Grand Hyatt on 29 January. Following the 26-year-old Noble Park man’s positive test the Department of Health updated its list of exposure sites, including locations in Keysborough.
One of the exposure sites was the Aces Sporting Club driving range on the corner of Springvale Road and Hutton Road, Keysborough, between 10pm and 11.15pm 30 January. Anyone who visited the range during that time is asked to get a coronavirus test, and remain isolated for 14 days.
4 February 2021 9:56am
The next two days will be “crucial” in Victoria’s fight against COVID-19 following the infection of a Noble Park man, 26, working as a resident support officer as part of the Australian Open quarantine program.
As a result, the ATP Cup Tournament for today has been cancelled, including the match where Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas was set to meet his long-time Spanish rival Rafael Nadal.
The Australian Open is scheduled to go ahead on Monday provided the situation is deemed to be under control.
The infected man had worked at the Grand Hyatt on 29 January, the same hotel where Greece’s tennis star Maria Sakkari was in harsh lockdown. The worker had taken a PCR nasal test at the end of is shift and returned a negative test result at the time, however he later developed symptoms and returned a positive result yesterday ending Melbourne’s long coronavirus-free streak of 28 days without community transmission.