There are concerns that Victoria is on the verge of a third lockdown, with the number of COVID-19 cases linked to the Holiday Inn cluster growing to 13.

Several close contacts of hotel quarantine workers have tested positive to the virus, in Victoria’s first cases of community transmission since the second wave of COVID-19.

But an epidemiologist says Victoria’s current situation is not all bad news.

“One of the good things is these people have been identified quite early in the course of their disease, so they haven’t been wandering around for seven days before we knew they were positive,” epidemiologist and head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at The University of Melbourne, Professor Nancy Baxter, said.

“That really reduces the risk.”

Professor Baxter says there is concern over how differently the UK variant of COVID-19 will behave.

“We know how things got out of control with the old variant of COVID-19,” she said.

“This is the UK variant that’s more transmissible and so when the Vic government is thinking about whether they need to put … more serious restrictions in, that’s something they’re considering.”

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https://www.3aw.com.au/covid-19-latest-lockdown-fears-loom-as-holiday-inn-cluster-grows-to-13/