Seven suburbs in Victoria are put on alert with Costco shoppers, diners and worshipers told to isolate as state battles to contain 'super infectious' strain - but ZERO cases of community transmission are recorded
Seven suburbs in Victoria have been put on alert after being exposed to coronavirus as the state records no local cases on Friday.
One infection was detected in hotel quarantine and there are currently 39 active cases around the state.
Friday marks the second day in a row no community transmission of the virus was recorded but fresh alerts have since popped up for several venues across Victoria.
State health officials have added venues in seven suburbs in both Melbourne and regional Victoria to the list of places exposed to positive COVID-19 cases.
Anyone who visited the Merrymen Cafe in Hampton in the city's south-east between 12.50pm and 2.40pm on December 28 must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days from the date of exposure.
The same isolation order has been issued for those who visited the Sikh Temple in Keysborough on January 1 between 3pm and 6pm.
Those who visited the Sikh Temple in Keysborough on January 1 between 3pm and 6pm have been told to self-isolate
Shoppers who were at Costco Moorabbin, Moorabbin on December 28 between 10.45am - 12.15pm and 4pm-5.50pm have been told to watch for symptoms
Punters who were at the club bar at the Woodlands Golf Club in Mordialloc on December 28 between 4.40pm and 5.15pm must also get tested immediately.
The warnings comes despite zero cases of community transmission being recorded in Victoria on Thursday.
On Thursday afternoon, a Woolworths supermarket and two chemists were added to the list of sites exposed to COVID-19 in New South Wales.
Customers who attended the Chemsave in Wentworthville on January 3 between 10.40 to 10.50am and that night between 9.30pm and 9.40pm should immediately get tested for coronavirus and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
NEW COVID ALERTS FOR VENUES IN VICTORIA
Get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from the exposure:
Merrymen Cafe, Hampton - December 28 - 12.50pm-2.40pm
Sikh Temple, Keysborough - January 1 3pm-6.00pm
Woodlands Golf Club club bar, Mordialloc - December 28 - 4.40pm-5.15pm
Monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they occur:
Coles Hallam, Hallam - December 30 6.15am - 6.30am - monitor for symptoms
Woolworths Southland, Cheltenham - December 31 - 6pm - 6.30pm
Costco Moorabbin, Moorabbin - December 28 - 10.45am - 12.15pm and 4pm- 5.50pm - monitor for symptoms
Wonthaggi Plaza, Wonthaggi - December 28 - 1.30pm - 2.30pm - monitor for symptoms
Punters who were at the club bar at the Woodlands Golf Club in Mordialloc on December 28 between 4.40pm and 5.15pm must get tested immediately
Customers who attended either the Avalon Woolworths from January 2 to January 6 or the Avalon Chemist Warehouse on January 3 should watch for symptoms and get tested and self-isolate if they notice any.
No new Covid cases have been reported in the Northern Beaches so far in 2021, despite the peninsula being the epicentre of December's shock outbreak - plunging the state back into restrictions and prompting others to close the border to NSW.
The state also recorded no new locally acquired cases of coronavirus on Thursday.
Victoria has also shut its border to all of NSW, fearing another wave of the deadly virus - after its second left 820 people dead and millions suffering three months of strict lockdown.
Queensland on Thursday confirmed a mutant strain of Covid which plunged the UK into a third lockdown had escaped hotel quarantine and is in the community.
This map shows alerts for Covid-19 cases across Sydney, which started in the Northern Beaches in December
ALERT FOR NEW VENUES IN NSW
Anyone who attended the following venue at this time should immediately get tested and self-isolate until a negative result:
Chemsave Day & Night Pharmacy, Wentworthville - Sunday January 3 - 10.40am to 10.50am and 9.30pm to 9.40pm
Anyone who attended the following venues at these times should watch for symptoms and get tested and self-isolate should they occur:
Woolworths, Avalon:
Saturday January 2 - 3.45pm to 4pm
Sunday January 3 - 12.45pm to 1pm
Monday January 4 - 6.30pm to 6.50pm
Tuesday January 5 - 4.45pm - 5pm
Wednesday January 6 - 12.45 - 1pm
Chemist Warehouse, Avalon - Sunday January 3 - 1pm to 1.15pm
A woman in her 20s who works as a cleaner at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane's Spring Hill tested positive to the highly-contagious strain of the virus late on Wednesday.
Health officials have since determined she spent at least four days in the community while infected, visiting Brisbane's busiest train stations during peak hour and two grocery stores in her local community.
There are concerns the mutated virus, which is believed to be up to 70 per cent more contagious than previous strains, could have already spread among close contacts.
This has prompted Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to announce on Friday Greater Brisbane would go into a hard lockdown for three days despite the state recording no new local cases.
Locals will also have to wear face masks as part of the new measures.
There are 2.5 million people living in greater Brisbane with lockdown applying to the council areas of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton, and Redlands.
Residents will be required to stay at home from 6pm on Friday until 6pm on Monday.
Residents will also only be allowed to leave their homes for four reasons: essential shopping, exercise in the local neighbourhood, healthcare reasons or for work.
A terrifying map shows the Brisbane locations which have been exposed to the UK's mutant variant of the virus since January 2, including a busy train line, a Coles and a Woolworths
Meanwhile, in Perth a paramedic, a nurse and a third person are all in hotel quarantine after coming into contact with a COVID-19 patient who recently returned from the United Kingdom.
The woman, in her 80s, arrived from the UK on January 2 already showing symptoms of the virus and subsequently tested positive.
Genomic testing is underway but it is not yet known if she has the more virulent strain which has caused havoc in Britain.
Passengers travelling from the UK and other COVID-19 hotspots are expected to undergo mandatory pre-flight coronavirus tests before they even step on the plane in an effort to prevent the highly contagious new strain from gaining a foothold in Australia.
The woman's case came after WA officials confirmed earlier this week that three people who also spent time in hotel quarantine in Perth had subsequently been found to have had the more transmissible UK COVID-19 strain.
They have since recovered and been released from isolation.
The strain has spiralled out of control in the UK, where infections reached a record 61,000 new daily cases on Tuesday, giving the nation's prime minister Boris Johnson 'no choice' but to impose a brutal third national lockdown.
Brisbane will enter into a three-day hard lockdown from 6pm on Friday (pictured, a testing centre in Murrarrie, Brisbane)