Victorian health officials have put ten Melbourne suburbs on alert after coronavirus fragments were found in wastewater.
The suburbs are Clayton, Clayton South, Dingley Village, Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Mulgrave, Notting Hill, Springvale, Springvale South and Wheelers Hill.
“Anyone with even mild COVID-19 symptoms is urged to get tested, especially people who live in or have visited these areas from 4 to 6 April,” the alert read.
Testing wastewater for coronavirus fragments has become an essential part of state governments’ COVID-19 strategies.
The idea is that a person who has been infected will shed virus fragments that are going to travel with the flush of a toilet to eventually end up in sewage treatment plants.
By analysing water samples from those plants authorities can detect whether the virus is spreading in a specific area.
A person who has had the virus can keep shedding fragments even after the infectious period is over.
Victoria reported no new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours up to midnight Thursday.
A total of 5778 vaccinations against COVID-19 were administered by state health services.
The state government is aiming to give 300,000 jabs by mid-May, an ambitious plan that has been complicated by frustrations over a lack of doses delivered by the federal government.
On Thursday, Victorian authorities said the Commonwealth had failed to deliver a batch of 40,000 COVID-19 vaccines scheduled for last week.
“We acknowledge that there’s been challenges of supply and distribution, challenges on a global scale and we’re not in the blame game,” Deputy Premier James Merlino said.
“This is the biggest medical logistical exercise in the history of our nation, so it’s difficult.”
He said he would push for the issue to be discussed on Friday at national cabinet, the forum for coronavirus response discussions attended by the Prime Minister and state leaders.