Overview
Four days after Victorian authorities identified the first cases in Melbourne's new COVID-19 cluster, much has already changed throughout the state. First came restrictions and an indoor mask mandate, and now a seven-day lockdown will start at 11.59pm today, Thursday, May 27. One of the reasons cited for shutting everything down for a week: the enormous number of primary and secondary contacts already linked to the 34 current active cases. This morning, Acting Premier James Merlino announnced that more than 10,000 people fit into those two categories so far.
That huge crowd of contacts stems from the growing list of exposure sites, which sat at two on Monday afternoon and had gone up to 43 by Wednesday morning. Now, at the time of writing, it comes in at a whopping 83 locations. Plenty of big venues have been named already — including Highpoint Shopping Centre, one of the first places identified, and the MCG, during last weekend's Collingwood versus Port Adelaide match. And they're just two of the places on the list.
Also included: Barkly Square in Brunswick between 1.15–2.30pm on Saturday, May 22. It is listed as a Tier 2 site — specific to Priceline, Kmart, Woolworths and OPSM — which means that anyone who attended those shops in that window of time must get tested immediately and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
A positive case also attended the North Melbourne versus Essendon game at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, May 23. Certain sections of the stadium — Level 1 Aisles 5–28 and Level 3 Aisles 6–29 — have been deemed Tier 2 sites. The rest of the venue is listed as Tier 3, which requires monitoring for symptoms.
Building 56 at RMIT has also been named in Tier 2, covering 8–10.30am on Friday, May 21 — and both IGA Coburg and Ritchie's IGA Pentridge fall into the same tier, the former from 2.30–2.50pm on Saturday, May 22 and the latter from 6.45–7.25pm on Monday, May 24.
Betty's Burgers in Westfield Doncaster has been deemed Tier 1 (from 7.40–9.30pm on Sunday, May 23), which requires getting tested immediately and self-isolating for 14 days regardless of the result. The Local in Port Melbourne (from 1.30–3.30pm on Friday, May 21), The Palace Hotel in South Melbourne (from 5.45–6.45pm on Friday, May 21), Somewhere Bar in Prahran (from 10.30pm on Saturday, May 22–1am on Sunday, May 23), Circus Bar in South Yarra (from 1.30–4.15am on Sunday, May 23) and Criniti's Southbank (from 6–9pm on Sunday, May 23) are all on the Tier 1 list as well. So is Three Monkeys in Prahran, which pops up twice (from 9.10–11pm on Saturday, May 22 and 12.30–2am on Sunday, May 23).
Melburnians can keep an eye on the local list of exposure sites at the Department of Health website — as usual, it will change as 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: Google Maps.