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