Source: abcnews
Victoria has recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 as the state prepares for a further easing of lockdown restrictions.
There were 25,635 test results received yesterday, and 15,610 doses of vaccine were administered at state-run sites.
Health authorities are trying to contain a cluster of cases that emerged at an apartment complex in Southbank, which had grown to eight cases by Wednesday.
Restrictions will ease at 11:59pm Thursday night, with the 25-kilometre travel bubble to end, and gyms and theatres to reopen in Melbourne.
An epidemiologist has questioned the decision to ease COVID-19 restrictions in Melbourne given the cluster of cases in Southbank.
Mary-Louise McLaws from the University of New South Wales said the infectiousness of the Kappa and Delta strains of the virus, which have been detected in Melbourne, calls for a cautious approach towards easing restrictions.
“Lifting the restrictions now, as in the number of people meeting outside, I think, is probably needed for your mental health, but I’m not sure it’s the right move for Kappa and Delta,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“From an outbreak management perspective, this Delta (variant) it’s so infectious you’re thinking ‘let’s just leave it for a bit longer’ — you’re not in lockdown inside, but I’d be leaving all of those restrictions, sadly, for a bit longer.”
Health authorities last night added a cinema complex and restaurant at Crown Casino to the list of COVID-19 exposure sites.
The screening of the film Cruella on Saturday, June 12, between 7:30pm and 10:30pm at Village Crown, has been listed as a Tier 1 exposure site, which means anyone who attended that session must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days.
The foyer and snack bar area of the cinema complex is listed as a Tier 2 site, as is the Gradi restaurant at Crown, and a public toilet near the casino’s food court.
