As it happened: Five new COVID cases announced in Victoria; Hunt for origins of Melbourne Delta variant outbreak; lockdown continues as police stop travel to regions

Thanks for joining us on the blog, that’s all we have for you today.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more up to date news about the coronavirus outbreak in Victoria and how the lockdown is unfolding.

Here’s a look back at the main stories of the day:

• The Doherty Institute’s Sharon Lewin says the most likely source of the Delta variant outbreak in Melbourne’s inner-city was the hotel quarantine system.

• The Victorian government is clinging to hope that the Australian Formula One Grand Prix can still go ahead in November, despite Singapore’s October grand prix being cancelled on Friday.
• There were two people arrested at Flinders Street Station as part of an anti-vaccine protest and 16 people were fined, after the protesters hijacked a small business demonstration on Saturday morning.

• There were five new local cases announced on Saturday, with three of those people already in quarantine before testing positive, meaning they present a lower risk of infecting others.

• One of the new cases has been identified as a cleaner working at a major city construction site, forcing 170 workers into self-isolation awaiting their test results.
• A sushi restaurant and a supermarket in Melbourne’s CBD have been listed as new coronavirus exposure sites on Saturday afternoon, as well a number of shops within a Craigieburn shopping centre.

Thanks again for your company today, have a wonderful evening.

Two men were arrested by police and 16 fines were issued after anti-lockdown protesters hijacked a demonstration of small business owners outside Flinders Street Station on Saturday.

A 48-year-old man from Caroline Springs was arrested by officers outside St Paul’s Cathedral after failing to provide his name and address.

The man has been charged with three counts of resisting arrest and two counts for breaking the Chief Health Officer’s directions, including not wearing a mask and being more than 10km from his home.

He has been bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on October 28.

A 33-year-old man was also arrested outside Flinders Street Station after failing to provide his name and address. The man, who lives in Mernda, may be summonsed to appear at court at a later date pending enquiries by detectives, Victoria Police said late on Saturday night.

There were 11 people given fines for travelling outside their 10km radius under the CHO directions.

Three people were fined for failing to wear a mask.

Once the golden child of coronavirus suppression, Taiwan today reported 511 new domestic COVID cases, and - sadly - 38 new deaths.

Taiwan’s first real lockdown is being blamed on its three-day quarantine requirements for aircrews. The outbreak began in April when infectious pilots gave the disease to their families and in one case, attended a crowded event at a local mosque, triggering a superspreader event. They were also caught short by a slow vaccine rollout and what analysts are calling “a sense of complacency”.

Foreign Policy wrote yesterday that: “Taiwan’s COVID-19 success, largely based on keeping the coronavirus out and tracking cases down quickly through contact tracing, was also a weakness as authorities failed to prepare for widespread community outbreak, address aircrew quarantine shortcomings, underestimate how contagious new variants are compared to those in 2020, or learn from other countries. In short, Taiwan has been fighting this year’s outbreak using 2020’s methods.”

Looking for a lighter read this afternoon? Check out our second week of the lockdown diaries, where five Melburnians from different walks of life tell us how they are spending their time.

I’m particularly loving the insights from youngster Kali: “Today was supposed to be Gala Day, where the year fives and sixes do sport (I was going to do hockey) and we get the whole morning off from doing school work.

“It was cancelled so we did random activities at home related to it. I made a first place ribbon, which I wouldn’t have won, and researched Ash Barty, who is the only famous sports person I know.”

The lockdown diaries are updated every day and written by an array of guest writers based in Melbourne, including an ICU nurse, a teacher and an actor

Of the five cases announced on Saturday, three were already in quarantine before testing positive, meaning they present a lower risk of infecting others. The five new cases include:

Two cases linked to the West Melbourne family cluster, among who the new Delta variant is circulating.

These cases include a second son in the second family of four, and a workplace contact of a family member in the first family which travelled to NSW. There are now about 340 close contacts related to the cluster of nine, 82 per cent of who have returned negative tests.

Two cases among a couple who live near Craigieburn, one of whom regularly attends Craigieburn shopping centre where transmission is known to have occurred in recent weeks.

The second member of this pair is a cleaner at a ProBuild construction site in the CBD, which has caused it to close and 170 workers to be sent into isolation. Officials have not yet directly linked these cases to others in the Whittlesea cluster but it is strongly suspected they picked up the virus from someone in this cluster who shopped at the same venue.