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Covid fears for more than 20,000 as Bunnings, Aldi shoppers exposed

One of Melbourne's new Covid-19 community cases attended an AFL game over the weekend, health authorities revealed as the list of exposure sites continues to grow.

Late on Tuesday night the Department of Health revealed one of the nine cases in the newly-identified cluster in Melbourne's north went to the MCG on Sunday for the Collingwood fixture against Port Adelaide.

Anyone who sat in a bay between M1 and M16 in Zone 4, Level 1 has been contacted and must isolate until receiving a negative test.

Pictured are exteriors of a Bunnings and an Aldi. They were announced as Covid exposure sites in Melbourne's new outbreak.
A Bunnings and an Aldi are among 43 exposure sites linked to the outbreak. Source: Getty Images

Close contacts from the fixture will receive specific advice, the department says, while other spectators at the game must monitor for symptoms.

There were 23,415 spectators in attendance.

The list of exposure sites ballooned to 43 on Tuesday as health authorities scramble to contain the spread of the virus.

The sites are now spread across the city, including an Aldi in Preston, a McDonald's in Clifton Hill and a Bunnings in Mill Park.

There are also concerns in regional Victoria, with exposure sites identified in Axedale and Bendigo.

State mulls over further restrictions as new cases expected

The state government is mulling over the possibility of increased restrictions a day after masks were enforced for indoor settings and gathering sizes were slashed.

Four new cases confirmed on Tuesday afternoon are all household family contacts of a positive man in his 60s identified earlier in the day.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned there may be further cases uncovered in the next 24 hours, with 84 of 168 primary close contacts testing negative so far.

"We have to chase down every single close contact... but it's certainly not out of control," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

Schools and workplaces have remained open as have shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs.

Genomic sequencing shows the outbreak is linked to the case of a Wollert man who contracted the virus in South Australian quarantine earlier this month.

The man in his 60s could be the possible "source case" for the City of Whittlesea outbreak, although a definitive link is yet to be established.

Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia have all significantly tightened their borders to Victoria, stopping short of completely slamming them shut for most travellers.

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