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Victoria has gone a second straight day without a new locally acquired COVID-19 case, although a technical issue has left thousands awaiting test results.
There were no local cases reported in Victoria on Friday, with the sole new infection recorded in hotel quarantine.
It pushes the number of active cases in the state up to 39.
However, some 10,000 test results were delayed on Thursday as one of Victoria s private pathology labs experienced a technical outage that delayed negative test results. The outage does not affect the total positive cases reported, the health department tweeted on Friday. Yesterday one of our private pathology lab partners experienced a technical outage delaying negative test results to some individuals. The outage does not affect the total positive cases reported. (2/3) VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) January 7, 2021
Victorians who have visited coronavirus hotspot zones in Greater Brisbane since January 2 have been told to stay in those zones until Monday or get tested immediately and quarantine if they have already returned to Victoria.
Victoria's first mystery case in two months has been genomically linked to Sydney's northern beaches outbreak, although its original source remains unknown.
Victorian mystery case linked to Sydney northern beaches
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Victoria s hard border closure with NSW could soften as early as next week as 2500 Victorians are stuck in isolation and the state genomically traces its latest mystery case back to Sydney s northern beaches cluster.
Premier Daniel Andrews, back early from annual leave ahead of Friday s emergency national cabinet meeting, said on Thursday that he hoped to make steps towards opening the border next week.
Daniel Andrews has raised the prospect of further border announcements next week.
Darrian Traynor
While he would not commit to a timeline for reopening, saying it was dependent on health advice, the comments provide hope for the thousands of Victorians stranded in NSW after Health Minister Martin Foley said on Wednesday that the border was unlikely to open before February.