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Australia's Victoria detects two cases of Delta Covid-19 variant for first time in latest outbreak

Australia's Victoria detects two cases of Delta Covid-19 variant for first time in latest outbreak

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton

Australia'sVictoriastate authorities said on Friday they had detected the highly infectiousDeltaCOVID-19virusvariantfor thefirsttimein thelatestoutbreakin Melbourne, stoking concerns of a major spike incases.

"Thatvariantis theDeltavariant, it is now infamous in India and increasingly found in the United Kingdom. It is avariantof significant concern,"Victoriastate Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters in Melbourne.

Also Read |Only one of three strains of B.1.617 variant now a 'variant of concern': WHO

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Sutton said the newvarianthad not been linked to any sequencedCOVID-19infectioncasesacross Australia from hotel quarantine or elsewhere.

In Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that he had agreed with theVictorian government to develop a new quarantine facility in Melbourne, and wanted to see mandatory vaccination for aged care workers across the country.

Also Read |Australia: Victoria state lockdown end date in doubt after new COVID-19 cases

Four new locally acquiredcaseswere reported on Friday, versus three a day earlier.

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Vinod Janardhanan

Vinod Janardhanan, PhD writes on international affairs, defence, Indian news, entertainment and technology and business with special focus on artificial intelligence. He is the de...Read More