The state now has had a total of 78 active cases, while the outbreak now stands at 69 infections.According to the Health Department, there were also 36,362 test results received in the past 24 hours and 24,263 vaccine doses administered. Three people currently remain in hospital with Covid-19 but none of them require intensive care.It is another day of single digits – on Friday the state recorded four local cases and two in hotel quarantine. The new figures come after it was revealed that the “Delta” strain of coronavirus had been found in seven people in Melbourne, including three children.B. 1.617.2 is the same coronavirus strain that has decimated India.An urgent search is now underway to find the source in Melbourne after genetic testing showed the strain had infected at least two people in a family of four who travelled to NSW’s Jervis Bay in late May.Worryingly, the strain has not been traced back genetically to any existing Delta infections, including those in hotel quarantine.The variant is different from the rest of the Victorian outbreak, another subtype of the Indian variant, known as Kappa.Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said there was anecdotal evidence the Delta variant was more serious and infectious in children.“This variant has some anecdotal reports of greater transmissibility between children,” he told reporters on Friday morning.“There isn’t much information about severity of illness with this variant, although there are some anecdotal reports of greater illness in children as well as greater increased transmissibility in children … we have concerns for that reason.“However it’s been more reassuring that we tend to see less transmission in school settings and between children.“But we have to be alive to new evidence and obviously what has occurred here.”On Thursday night it was revealed that two people believed to have been infected with the virus that was spread by “fleeting contact” had been classified as “false positives” by the health department.“Following analysis by an expert review panel, and retesting through the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, two cases linked to this outbreak have been declared false positives,” the department said in a statement.It was initially believed that a woman contracted the virus at a Metricon display home and a man caught it at the Brighton Beach Hotel, which are both listed exposure sites. At the time, the two cases were thought to be part of a group of at least four incidents where transmission occurred with very limited contact.Those cases were partially used to justify Acting Premier James Merlino’s announcement on Wednesday that the initial “circuit breaker” lockdown would be extended by another week for Greater Melbourne. Under the restrictions, people can only leave their homes for one of five reasons: to shop for food and supplies, authorised work and education, care and caregiving, exercise for a maximum of two hours a day and with one other person, and to getting vaccinated.
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