Melburnians Who Visited Highpoint Shopping Centre in a Three-Hour Period Must Self-Isolate
Four new cases have been identified in the city's northern suburbs.
Just a couple weeks after Melbourne's last case of COVID-19 was identified in the community, four people have today, Monday, May 24, tested positive in the city's northern suburbs. By now, Melburnians are familiar with the procedure from here — and yes, Victoria's Department of Health has started announcing which venues are currently considered exposure sites.
At the moment, only two places have been popped onto the list; however, one of them is Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong. If you went to the shops between 5–8pm on Thursday, May 20, you'll now need to get tested immediately, then stay in self-isolation until further notice. The alert applies to the entire centre at present — so, no matter where you were onsite, you'll need to abide by the Tier 1 alert.
Also named, and also considered a Tier 1 venue: Jump! Swim Schools Bundoora between 8.55–10.15am on Friday, May 21. If you were in attendance on that date and during those times, you'll need to also get tested immediately. Afterwards, you're asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
The case alerts come after DHS announced the first two new cases via social media earlier today, before this afternoon's press conference took place. At the latter, Health Minister Martin Foley advised that more venues are likely to be added, unsurprisingly. He also noted that genomic sequencing is underway, and that authorities haven't ruled out a link to hotel quarantine — and to the aforementioned case from earlier this month that quarantined in Adelaide, but then tested positive upon returning to Melbourne.
Melburnians can keep an eye on the local list of exposure sites at the Department of Health website, as usual, as it will change if more sites are identified.
For those looking to get tested, you can find a list of testing sites including regularly updated waiting times also on the Department of Health website.
And, has remained the case throughout the pandemic, Melburnians should be looking out for coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste, symptoms-wise.
For further details on the latest exposure sites and updated public health advice, see the Department of Health website.
Top image: Albertus Aditya via Wikimedia Commons.