A worker at a hotel at Melbourne Airport, tested positive with the COVID-19N late on Sunday night.

The worker, an authorised officer working at the Holiday Inn, is in her early 50s had been returned a negative test result on Thursday, 4 February. However, when she returned to work on 7 February, she tested positive after showing symptoms for COVID-19.

“The individual is being interviewed and full public health response is underway,” said the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on its website. Testing was being conducted to determine which variant of the virus the hotel worker had contracted.

“We are contacting Holiday Inn Airport workers and others who are considered primary close contacts. They are required to immediately isolate, get tested and remain isolated for 14 days.”

The DHSS said public health teams were identifying exposure sites and that these would be announced as soon as possible through its Case locations and outbreaks page on its website.

READ MORE: Australians to provide proof of vaccination via smartphone

“Testing capacity near exposure sites will be scaled up from tomorrow, with increased opening hours, additional staff and pop-up sites to be confirmed,” said the DHHS.

The ABC quoted Victorian Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville as saying that there were about 80 COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) and hotel staff who were to be tested and placed in quarantine for 14 days. The minister said that 12 defence force members and nine police officers would also be tested and quarantined.

Up to 15 personal close contacts had be identified and this number was likely to increase the testing commander Jeroen Weimar was quoted as saying.

According to the DHHS, this made it one locally acquired case over the past 24 hours with no cases acquired interstate or from overseas. Victoria has 20 active cases over the same period while 11,359 test results were received over the same period.

The DHHS had added the following locations to its Tier 1 exposure sites to its list: Marciano’s Cakes in Maidstone; Dan Murphy’s in Sunshine: and Of Ya Tree Water Gardens at Taylor’s Lakes.

The department said on its website that: “The locations on this list are not a current risk to the public and you can visit them in line with current restrictions.”

READ MORE: PRONIA offers a free information session on Covid-19 vaccines in Greek