The total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Victoria is 1628 – an increase of 10 since yesterday.
There have been no new deaths reported. To date, 19 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.
No recorded cases in the Macedon Ranges, Mount Alexander and Hepburn shires remain active.
There have been 165 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Victoria that may have been acquired through unknown transmission, a reduction from yesterday following investigations linking 18 people to known cases.
Currently eight people are in hospital, including three patients in intensive care. 1544 people have recovered.
Of the total 1628 cases, there have been 1347 in metropolitan Melbourne and 236 in regional Victoria. Several cases remain under investigation. The total number of cases is made up of 860 men and 768 women. More than 480,000 tests have been processed to date.
A second case of COVID-19 has been detected in a staff member at the Rydges on Swanston, Melbourne.
The source of acquisition for both cases remains under investigation and all potential sources of transmission will be explored.
All close contacts of both staff members have been contacted and placed into quarantine. None of the close contacts identified are hotel guests at this stage.
Thorough cleaning of relevant parts of the hotel has been undertaken, alongside other appropriate public health actions including contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.
The hotel is not currently open to the public. There are some returned overseas travellers observing their quarantine at the hotel.
Potential links between the staff members and positive cases among travellers at the site are being investigated. As a precaution, all staff who have worked in the hotel since early May have been offered testing.
Of yesterday’s other cases, three were detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine, and six cases were detected in household contacts, including five members of one household. All household members are in isolation and contact tracing is under way.
There were no new cases linked to outbreaks in aged care centres.
“Today’s increase in cases illustrates once again that while we have been flattening the curve, our battle against COVID-19 is far from over,” said Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton.
“Restrictions around some activities have now been eased in Victoria in recognition of the current low rate of community transmission of this virus.
“While encouraging, we need to remain vigilant. It is increasingly important that we stay at home when unwell and get tested, wash our hands regularly, sneeze and cough into our elbow and maintain physical distancing. These are common sense actions to ensure we don’t create a second wave of this serious disease, as we have seen in other countries once they have eased their stringent regulations.
“Victorians have done a remarkable job so far sticking to the coronavirus restrictions and staying at home has saved lives. But now is not the time for complacency.
“We are also asking Victorians to continue this amazing effort and get tested if they have symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, because the more tests we do, the more data we have about the prevalence of coronavirus in the community.
“People with even the mildest of symptoms of coronavirus including fever, chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose or loss of sense of smell are encouraged to get tested.”
