Victoria records five new coronavirus cases as hotel quarantine resumes
Victoria has recorded five new coronavirus cases in returned travellers.
The new cases come after the state resumed its hotel quarantine program, taking in people returning to Australia from overseas.
There has once again been no community transmission uncovered, meaning Victoria has now notched its 43rd day in a row without a locally acquired case of Covid-19.
There were 8,737 test results received in the past 24-hour period, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services said Saturday.
According to the state government, there were 571 international arrivals in quarantine hotels on Friday, including 44 with symptoms or complex health needs at the Novotel "hot hotel" in Melbourne's South Wharf.
Some 220 returned travellers were due to arrive late on Friday.
The state’s hotel quarantine program resumed earlier this week with returning travellers arriving on Monday. The cases announced by authorities this morning are the first positive results thus far.
A breach during the state’s hotel quarantine was found to be the source of Victoria’s devastating second wave which plunged Melbourne and regional Victoria into a months-long lockdown.
Huge demand for state’s travel vouchers
Business Victoria says 40,000 vouchers offered as part of the first round of the state's Regional Travel Voucher Scheme have run out.
Holidaymakers hoping to snap up one of the Victorian government's $200 regional tourism offers prompted the application website to crash within minutes on Friday morning, having opened at 10am.
Those intending to spend two or more nights in regional Victoria between Saturday and January 22, 2021 were able to apply.
Business Victoria said the website received 800,000 visits by Friday at 5pm.
Eligible destinations under the $28 million scheme, announced as part of a $300 million state budget tourism package last month, include the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Bellarine Peninsula.
"If those $200 vouchers mean people stay an extra night, maybe go to a local pub or restaurant. That's all about wages and spending and investment," Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday.
The state is reportedly set to offer 30,000 new vouchers.
with AAP
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