Victoria's health minister has promised "the most rigorous hotel quarantine system in the nation" as the state gears up for the arrival of international travellers in December.
The promise comes as Victoria marked 22 days with no new cases of COVID-19 and zero virus-related deaths today.
There is now only one active case remaining in the state, who is making "a slow but steady recovery" Victoria's Health Minister, Martin Foley, said today.
Mr Foley, said positive traces of COVID-19 have been detected in wastewater from a sewerage catchment in Altona.
The catchment covers five suburbs including Altona, Altona Meadows, Laverton, Point Cook and Sanctuary Lakes.
Mr Foley said the wastewater results were "really unexpected" given it had now been eight weeks since any of the areas had a positive case.
Anyone who was in the area from Monday November 16 to Wednesday November 18 are now being urged to get tested if they have even the mildest of symptoms associated with COVID-19.
"Out of an abundance of caution we've issued that alert especially after eight weeks of no-one returning a positive result."
A testing site has been set up in Point Cook for anyone wishing to get tested for the virus.
"It could mean a number of things in the Altona community ... it could mean there is someone in the community that we've missed, it could mean someone was travelling through that left the virus behind or it could mean the virus is being shed," Mr Foley said.
Health Minister promises 'most rigorous hotel quarantine system' in Australia
As Victoria prepares to relaunch its hotel quarantine system in December, Mr Foley said the state is intending to establish the "most rigorous hotel quarantine system in the country."
Mr Foley would not provide specific details on how the new system would run, however he assured Victorians the government had learnt from the mistakes made during the last hotel quarantine disaster.
"We're not going to leave anything to chance."
"The government has learned, the community has learned along the way ... and we will be keeping Victorian's safe through the most rigorous hotel quarantine system the nation has in place," he said.
Restrictions to ease tomorrow
Today's cases come ahead of easing restrictions set to take place tomorrow at 11.59pm.
"I think on Sunday you'll see some changes to mask policy," Mr Andrews said earlier this week. Under the roadmap's plan, people will be allowed up to 10 people at their homes.
Patron caps at hospitality venues, gyms, weddings, indoor pools, cinemas and entertainment complexes will also be expanded.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LjluZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy12aWN0b3JpYS1uby1uZXctY292aWQxOS1jYXNlcy1kaGhzL2VhNmUzYWE0LWYwNDItNDk5NC04NDk0LWIwNTEyZjgzM2FlOdIBRWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLjluZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hcnRpY2xlL2VhNmUzYWE0LWYwNDItNDk5NC04NDk0LWIwNTEyZjgzM2FlOQ?oc=5
2020-11-20 23:45:00Z
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