Another five new cases of COVID-19 emerged in Melbourne overnight with ten new local infections uncovered in 24 hours.

Victoria’s active case load is now at 23 cases following new restrictions implemented from 6pm on Tuesday.

Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Foley said there are 301 primary close contacts who have been identified and they are isolating. Of these, 80 have returned negative tests.

Acting Premier James Merlino says he can’t say there won’t be additional restrictions implemented. “I want to be upfront with everyone this morning – I cannot rule out taking some further action, but we’ll we will update people as soon as we know,”

“It’s fair to say for the next 24 hours are going to be particularly critical so the message this morning is, it’s good that everyone is linked at the stage, but we are concerned about the number, and also about the kind of exposure sites, and the next 24 hours are going to be pretty critical if we’re going to make any further changes beyond the changes that we announced yesterday.”

On Tuesday night, more than 20 exposure sites had been identified. Victoria’s Department of Health issued a warning after a positive case was detected at the AFL match between Collingwood and Port Adelaide at the MCG on Sunday.

Overnight, thousands of fans were contacted by the AFL and asked to take COVID-19 tests and self-isolate until a negative result is returned.

In a statement, the AFL said: “The AFL and the MCC have prepared for this situation in multiple simulations, with contact information linked to ticketing data and QR codes. Fans seated in Zone 4, Level 1, of the Great Southern Stand must get tested and isolate until they return a negative result. The health department said it would scour CCTV to further determine exposure sites at the ground, which hosted around 23, 000 spectators. This comes as contact tracers are desperately hunting down a mystery link to the growing coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs that has the state on high alert.”

There is a scramble to contact trace at exposure sites, including a bar at 210 Chapel Street, one of Melbourne’s busiest streets, which labelled itself as an exposure site between 9.10pm Saturday, 22 May, and 1.30am, 23 May. Patrons are urged to get tested, though the exposure site has yet to be published on the Department of health website.

CCTV footage from Highpoint Shopping Centre at Maribyrnong was being used to find the most at-risk shops, which include Ishka, Kidstuff, Lush, Smiggle and Toyworld which remain at tier 1 exposure sites between 5.15-6.35pm on Thursday, 20 May.

Testing sites across Melbourne are in for a busy day with wait times ballooning to two hours on Wednesday morning.

A number of events are being cancelled ahead of the weekend.

States are closing their borders to Melburnians. From 1am Wednesday, anyone arriving into Queensland from the City of Whittlesea local government area must go into hotel quarantine unless they have a valid exemption as the area has been declared a hotspot.

Reported yesterday: 10 new local cases and no new cases acquired overseas.
– 15,858 vaccine doses were administered
– 26,180 test results were received

More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/BCp1fpOLJB

— Victorian Department of Health (@VicGovDH) May 25, 2021