Victorian health authorities are confident a Covid-19 outbreak is being quelled, despite the state recording more than 20 cases in consecutive days.
All but two of the 26 cases recorded on Thursday had been in isolation for their infectious period.
Of those two people, one had attended a coffee shop and the Prahran Market in the day they were infectious in the community, while the other had only attended a regional Victorian service station. There are no mystery cases in the state.
The Victorian health minister, Martin Foley – who described the outbreak on Thursday as “the Sydney incursion of Covid-19” – said he was heartened by the fact the percentage of people in isolation while infectious has gone from 6% three days ago, to 73% on Wednesday and 92% on Thursday.
But the acting chief health officer, Prof Ben Cowie, said it was too early to tell whether Victoria would be ready to ease restrictions next Tuesday, when its extended lockdown is due to end.
He would not be drawn on whether having daily case numbers in the 20s would prevent an end to lockdown, even if there were no cases who had been in the community while infectious.
“These are important metrics but we weigh variables into consideration so I can’t speak to that at this point,” he said. “But … that increase in the proportion of isolation is incredible and it was where we want to be.”
The Covid-19 commander, Jeroen Weimar, said the person whose positive result was recorded on Thursday and who had visited the Prahran Market was “interesting”, as it was another example of someone who is suspected of having contracted Covid-19 while entering AAMI Park last week.
There have now been several cases of transmission of the disease involving strangers who did not sit near each other but were found to have entered the Australia v France rugby match through the same gates.
“We’ve seen with Delta [Covid variant] over the last 11 days [that] it isn’t about where you’ve spent significant time – it is the brush-past contact,” Weimar said.
Weimar said there had been about 900 people who checked in to Prahran Market at the time the infectious person was there.
He also confirmed an aged care facility in the state’s east had been closed, but said it was done as a precaution, given it had been linked to a close contact.
In South Australia, two new cases of Covid-19 were recorded. The infected people are siblings in their 20s who are suspected of contracting the virus at Tenafeate Creek Wines, north of Adelaide, on Sunday. There are now 14 cases in the state.
The premier, Steven Marshall, said a record 17,592 tests were conducted on Wednesday, and he was confident the state, which is in the second day of a seven-day lockdown, would be able to ease restrictions as planned.
