Victoria records 41 more cases of coronavirus - The Age

A total of about 758,000 tests have been carried out, an increase of about 22,000 since yesterday.

The last time the state recorded more than 41 cases was on April 3 when 49 cases were recorded.

The rise comes as the Victorian government is seeking legal advice to determine whether it can force returned travellers in hotel quarantine to be tested for COVID-19 before they rejoin the community, after it emerged on Friday 30 per cent of those who leave the hotels have refused testing.

More than 18,500 people have now spent a mandatory two weeks in a room at one of the quarantine hotels, and outbreaks at Rydges Hotel and the Stamford Plaza have led to clusters that have infected 34 people including security guards, hotel staff and people with whom they have had contact.

A state government spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday it was seeking legal advice "to explore all options" following Friday's meeting of National Cabinet.

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"It's the government's view that all returned travellers should be tested," the spokeswoman said.

Victoria's hotel quarantine program tests travellers on arrival and the 11th day, the government said.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said she was very concerned about the 41 additional cases.

She said there had been no cases of community transmission linked to returned travellers who had refused testing in hotels.

Despite this, Dr van Diemen said the government was seeking legal advice to make testing compulsory.

Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer, Dr Annaliese van Diemen announced the 41 new cases on Saturday.Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

In recent weeks, she said, the proportion of people in hotels who had been tested was significantly greater than 70 per cent.

"We’re not seeing cases in our community because they’ve leaked out of hotel quarantine, we’re just not seeing them,” Dr van Diemen said, adding that Victoria "led the way" in developing the hotel quarantine system at a national level.

"I wouldn’t have implemented the program if we didn’t think it was appropriate."

She said there were "many reasons" why travellers had refused testing, and said it was the government’s intention to minimise the amount of time people are detained.

Extending the quarantine period in hotels for those who refused testing would not be desirable, Dr van Diemen said.

More to come

With AAP

correction

An earlier version of this story stated that eight of the new coronavirus cases came from hotel quarantine. That number was incorrect. There is one new case from hotel quarantine.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWFnZS5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdmljdG9yaWEvdmljdG9yaWEtcmVjb3Jkcy00MS1tb3JlLWNhc2VzLW9mLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLTIwMjAwNjI3LXA1NTZ0aC5odG1s0gFuaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlYWdlLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS92aWN0b3JpYS1yZWNvcmRzLTQxLW1vcmUtY2FzZXMtb2YtY29yb25hdmlydXMtMjAyMDA2MjctcDU1NnRoLmh0bWw?oc=5

2020-06-27 05:06:19Z
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