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Indian variant stuns Victorian authorities
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The vaccine strategy must change to recognise the fast growing outbreak of the Indian variant of the COVID-19 virus, said experts who called for âring vaccinationâ to suppress the Melbourne outbreak.
The Indian mutation, known as B.1.617.1 has been genomically identified as the cause of the exploding cluster in Melbourne, with chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton saying the virus was now being passed on from one infected person to around five more.
This is about double the infection rate of the first wave virus from Wuhan.
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The acting Premier James Merlino said the speed of transmission has stunned contact tracers.
A concerning coronavirus cluster in Melbourne has now climbed to 15 cases
Latest cases are of the double mutant Indian strain, which is hyper-infectious
Alert issued after infected case attended the AFL game at the MCG on Sunday
Acting premier said the source of the outbreak was hotel quarantine in SA James Merlino said he won t rule out taking further action on restrictions
Indian variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 detected in Melbourne
What does this mean and what should I do?
COVID-19 restrictions are being reimposed in Melbourne as authorities try to find the source of an outbreak in the city s north. Credit: Sandra Sanders/Reuters
Evidence of a SARS-CoV-2 strain was recently detected in Melbourne wastewater, leading to the detection of 15 locally acquired cases of COVID-19. Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has confirmed that the strain is the B1.617 variant first detected in India.
The strain was genetically linked to the man who contracted the virus while in Adelaide hotel quarantine.
What is the B1.617 variant?