COVID ribbons relocated in Melbourne after five cases found Coronavirus pandemic News

Authorities in Australia’s second-largest city have said the restrictions will remain in effect until June 4 as they make efforts to find a source of new infections.

Melbourne’s second-largest Australian city has re-imposed COVID-19 restrictions as authorities work to find the missing link in a new outbreak north of the city that has reached five cases.

Home meetings will be limited to five guests, only 30 people will be admitted to public meetings and masks will be mandatory in indoor settings from 6pm (08:00 GMT) until Tuesday 4 June.

“This is a responsible step we need to take to overcome this outbreak,” said James Merlino, the acting Prime Minister of Victoria in Melbourne.

The latest cases come almost three months after the state reported zero cases.

It was Victoria the most affected situation in a second wave of coronavirus last year, it accounted for about 70 per cent of all cases and 90% of deaths in Australia care homes for the elderly are badly damaged. The state took control of the event after one of the longest and toughest closures in the world.

A new case obtained locally was reported in Melbourne, Merlin said on Tuesday, a day after four infections occurred in the city.

In these five cases there is only one extended family and they have gone back through the genome of the virus to a variant found in a foreign traveler who returned to Melbourne in the city of Adelaide in fifty months.

Authorities, however, are still working on how family members infected the virus overseas.

The latest case involves a man in his 60s.

“Importantly, it has been reported to be symptomatic before a case develops symptoms, which means it may be a possible source case,” Merlinok told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC). Health Director General Brett Sutton said the man could be a “missing link”.

Thousands of people have been ordered to self-isolate and undergo COVID-19 tests with health alerts issued for various sites, from public transportation to restaurants and shopping malls.

One of the cases carried a heavy viral load while visiting several places to alert the five million residents of Melbourne to more positive cases in the coming days.

Hours at COVID-19 test sites have been extended to meet expected demand growth.

Rapid tracing systems, movement restrictions and social disruption have helped Australia cause COVID-19 outbreaks, with more than 30,000 cases since the pandemic began and 910 deaths.