Victorian man tests positive to Covid after Perth to Melbourne flight

Victoria’s streak of no locally acquired COVID-19 cases has come to an end with a man testing positive after flying into the state from Perth.

Victoria’s streak of no locally acquired COVID-19 cases has come to an end, with one new local case confirmed.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley confirmed on Friday the man contracted the virus in a Perth quarantine hotel before travelling to Melbourne on Wednesday unaware he was infected.

He was notified by authorities immediately after landing in Melbourne on Qantas flight QF778 that he was a close contact of a positive case in an adjacent room at the Mercure Hotel, where there was an outbreak.

The man was subsequently tested and his positive result came back at 2am on Friday, breaking Victoria’s 55-day streak without any local cases.

Health authorities are now working on contacting everyone on the flight.

All passengers are being told to get tested and quarantine.

“Obviously, there are going to be a number of primary close contacts on that flight and that flight was Qantas QF778,” Mr Foley said.

“All of those people are being contacted by our contact tracing team and will need to isolate for the full 14 days.”

The man, who was asymptomatic, began isolating immediately after being notified he was a close contact.

His household contacts - his partner and two children - are all currently in isolation after being tested and will receive their results in the next day.

“He was picked up at the airport by his spouse and returned directly home to his residential location in the eastern suburbs where he lives with three household contacts – his spouse and two children,” Mr Foley said.

“He went straight to the airport and was contacted as he was coming off the plane as a primary close contact.

The outbreak at the Mercure Hotel in Perth happened after a couple arrived from India on April 10 and the man tested positive on April 13, followed by his wife two days later.

A pregnant mother and her four-year-old daughter, who arrived on April 3 from the United Kingdom along with the girl’s father who previously had the virus, were quarantining in an opposite room when they were diagnosed with the virus on April 16.

Authorities are investigating how it happened, but WA Premier Mark McGowan has conceded the Mercure is “not one of the best” hotels for quarantining and would no longer be used.

The potential exposure period for the floor was from April 10.

There were 18 other guests on the same floor who had left after returning a negative result, with two of them who were adjacent to the ill people ordered to quarantine for a further two weeks.

The other 16 people were directed to immediately self-quarantine and be retested.