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The disturbing trend in Australia's coronavirus case count

As Australia’s states and territories collectively work to get on top of the coronavirus, there is one jurisdiction struggling to contain rises in new cases.

Victoria this month has recorded nearly twice as many cases as the other states and territories combined.

As of Thursday, Victoria recorded 168 new coronavirus cases for the first two weeks of May, while NSW recorded 56, Queensland, 21, Tasmania 4, Western Australia 3, and Northern Territory and South Australia 2, and ACT 1.

Not including Victoria, Australia’s states and territories recorded a total of 88 cases for May, 80 less than Victoria alone.

General view of the exterior of Fawkner McDonald's in Melbourne, where a coronavirus outbreak occurred.
A number of coronavirus cases have been linked to a McDonald's restaurant in Fawkner. Source: AAP

The garden state has suffered from a number of different coronavirus outbreaks, with 91 of its cases from the cluster at Cedar Meats.

Another two cases of coronavirus have been linked to a Melbourne McDonald's, bringing the number of people involved in that cluster to eight.

The fresh cases – confirmed by the health department overnight – are close contacts of the four employees at the restaurant in Fawkner, in Melbourne’s north, who tested positive.

Another two close contacts had already been confirmed as positive.

The site was closed on Friday and underwent a deep clean at the weekend before being reopened on Wednesday with staff from surrounding McDonald's.

The majority of the 100 employees at the restaurant have been tested and returned negative results, McDonald’s Australia chief executive Andrew Gregory said.

However there are still some results yet to be returned.

"It's possible we will get a small number of positive infections," he told 3AW radio.

The two McDonald's cluster cases were part of nine new positives confirmed on Thursday, which bring Victoria's overall coronavirus count to 1523.

The growing cluster at the fast-food restaurant follows the COVID-19 outbreak at Cedar Meats, where three more workers tested positive on Thursday.

 A general view of Cedar Meats abattoir in Brooklyn in Melbourne, where a coronavirus outbreak occurred.
More than 90 cases have been linked to Cedar Meats in Melbourne. Source: Getty

The abattoir in Melbourne's west is being investigated by WorkSafe.

A spokesman for WorkSafe has confirmed it will be investigating the Brooklyn abattoir, which is linked to 91 infections.

The probe will examine whether social distancing measures were in place at the abattoir and if workers were provided with appropriate personal protective equipment and hand sanitiser.

The state government and Cedar Meats' management have defended their handling of the outbreak, including the decision to allow staff to work for several days after workers tested positive.

Cedar Meats general manager Tony Kairouz said he had been advised by WorkSafe of its investigation.

"We welcome it. We will co-operate fully," Mr Kairouz said in a statement to AAP on Wednesday.

Despite the growing clusters, Victoria's Chief Health Officer Dr Brett Sutton told 3AW radio the fact that new cases weren't related to community transmission was reassuring.

Meanwhile, a worker at a poultry processor has also tested positive to the virus.

Health authorities did not name the facility but said it was an isolated case. The business is not an abattoir and contact tracing is under way.

In the 24 hours to 11pm Wednesday, Victoria Police did 569 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services across the state and issued one fine.

Since March 21, police have done a total of 44,398 spot checks.

With AAP

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