One returned traveller in Victorian hotel quarantine has been diagnosed with COVID-19 overnight, as the state recorded its 44th day in a row without community transmission of the virus.
Key points:
- It is the sixth case confirmed in hotel quarantine this weekend
- Authorities expect about one in every 100 returned travellers to be diagnosed with the virus
- The cases in hotel quarantine are the only confirmed active infections in Victoria
The new case, which was acquired overseas, brings the total number of confirmed infections in the state's quarantine system to six.
On Saturday, health authorities confirmed five returned travellers had been diagnosed, the first infections reported since the revamped scheme resumed on December 7 and the first new cases in the state for six weeks.
There were 6,233 test results processed on Saturday, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
The six cases in hotel quarantine are the only active infections in the state.
The Deputy Chief Health Officer for COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria, Ben Cowie, said on Saturday cases were expected to be detected "and that is the system working as it is intended to".
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said just over one in every 100 returned travellers tested positive during their quarantine period.
"The likelihood of a positive case will vary depending on which country someone has arrived from, but we would expect to see at least a similar rate of positive cases being diagnosed in the coming weeks," he said.
A cap of 160 travellers a day is currently in place, but that number could rise as the program continues.
Professor Cowie declined to say how many of the confirmed cases were symptomatic or which country they had arrived in Australia from, citing privacy concerns.
But he said deep cleaning was underway in hotel rooms occupied by travellers who had been moved into a "health hotel" after testing positive.
Victoria resumed its hotel quarantine program on Monday, after four months of international flights being diverted to other cities while the state battled its second wave of coronavirus.
The deadly surge in infections was linked to breaches in the state-run scheme, which allowed the virus to spread from returned travellers to security guards and into the community.
Professor Cowie said on Saturday that health officials were taking "all steps" and mobilising "all resources" to ensure the virus remained in quarantine under the reset program.
A board of inquiry, led by former judge Jennifer Coate, will deliver its final report on what went wrong in the scheme just days before Christmas.
Nightclubs have first weekend with dancing allowed
Victoria moved into "COVIDSafe Summer" restrictions on Monday, allowing the most widespread relaxing of restrictions since shutdowns were first imposed.
Dance floors were allowed to reopen in bars and pubs, as well as at weddings, meaning this weekend was the first time many nightlife venues reopened their doors.
Strict density limits remain in place, with only 50 people allowed to dance at one time per dance area, and record-keeping is mandatory.
The eased restrictions saw the popular Chapel St precinct, in Melbourne's inner south-east, bustling with life on Saturday night
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2020-12-12 21:21:00Z
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