Sydney Covid cluster spreads to Victoria
Sydney’s coronavirus cluster has spread into Victoria.
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday morning it had one new case acquired from interstate.
The DHHS says the case, a returned traveller who had spent time in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, had limited contact with people in Victoria and there are no exposure sites.
The case, a 15-year-old girl, is in quarantine.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the individual is from Moonee Valley LGA and had returned to Victoria with one of their parents. The parent has so far tested negative while other close contacts are being tested.
They drove into Victoria however Mr Foley said they did not make any stops en route once crossing the border.
He pleaded with other returning Victorians to get tested.
“We take this opportunity to reiterate anyone who is in Victoria who has been in the high-risk zones - Northern Beaches, Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, from those dates of December 11 onwards - please, you have to get tested,” Mr Foley said.
It is the second state to detect a case linked to the Avalon outbreak after an infected woman travelled to Queensland last week.
The Victorian border closed to Greater Sydney and Central Coast residents at midnight on Sunday.
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Victorian residents who had been in those areas had until midnight on Monday to return.
Warning to Victorian, NSW travellers
Mr Foley said 17 people who had arrived from NSW were now spending Christmas in hotel quarantine.
"That is 17 people who will be spending their Christmas and their New Year, not as how they planned, but in hotel quarantining circumstances," he said.
"So, my message to anyone trying to enter Victoria from New South Wales is – don't.
"You won't get in, and if you do, you'll be spending your time at Christmas and New Year in hotel quarantining.”
The last case detected in the Victorian community was on October 31, however health authorities are maintaining the state has continued its virus-free streak.
DHHS testing chief Jeroen Weimar said there had been a surge in testing, with more than 15,000 completed in the previous 24 hours.
Two cases were confirmed in hotel quarantine from returning overseas travellers.
The Northern Beaches cluster sits at 83, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to front media Tuesday morning with an update on cases.
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