Australia is one of the countries that advocate a strategy to eradicate the virus, the famous "Zero Covid", and it is proving it once again.
New measures are imposed from this Tuesday 6 p.m. (10 a.m. in Paris) in Melbourne, to contain a cluster in formation after 85 days without new local contamination.
The balance sheet rose on Tuesday to nine new cases identified in 24 hours: four members of the same household, a fifth who had been in close contact with one of them, then four people from the same family as this one. .
All are questioned by the health authorities to determine who they may have come across and therefore contaminate in recent days.
CONFIRMED: another four cases, bringing the cluster total to 9. These newest infections are the household contacts of case 5, the male added to the numbers this morning.
Demand at testing and vaccine sites is still high across the city @ 9NewsMelb
- Stephanie Anderson (@_StephAnderson) May 25, 2021
The fifth case, a man in his sixties, had been symptomatic since May 17 but was not tested until Monday, notes The Age daily.
About ten sites he visited, including a McDonald's and a restaurant, have already been announced and others must be communicated during the day on Tuesday.
All the inhabitants of these sectors are and will be called upon to be tested as soon as possible and to self-isolate for two weeks.
The screening sites have already been overwhelmed since their opening on Tuesday morning.
"Sanitary bubble" with New Zealand suspended
“I think this is probably one of the most difficult epidemics we've seen just based on the number of people involved.
As long as we don't see unrelated clusters popping up everywhere, ”Dr Todd Cameron warned in the local press.
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Without waiting to identify possible new cases, the local government has decided that the mask will be mandatory again from the age of 12 indoors, gatherings will be limited to 30 people, it will be prohibited to receive more than 5 guests in home.
All these measures are to last until June 4, at the earliest.
A department at Broadmeadows Hospital was also closed "as a precaution" and thoroughly cleaned.
New Zealand has also suspended the "health bubble" with Victoria for 72 hours, that is to say that it will now be prohibited to travel between the Australian state and the neighboring country without reaching isolation. .