Quotes of the Day from Xinhua World News, Feb 23 theuknews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theuknews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Health authorities in Australia s Victoria state ramped up contact tracing and prepared for more mass testing of residents in Melbourne after a new COVID-19 cluster linked to a quarantine hotel grew to ten cases on Thursday. More than 22,500 test results were conducted in the past 24 hours in Australia s second most populous city Melbourne and authorities urged residents to get tested amid fears of community transmission from a worker at the Holiday Inn in the city. Victoria reported a total of 4 cases on Thursday, of which two are primary household contacts of Holiday Inn staff. Other cases include returned travellers who were in quarantine at the hotel. The new outbreak in Melbourne, where the Australia Open tennis tournament is underway, has stirred fears of a fresh wave of infections in the state hardest hit by COVID-19. Victoria had more than 20,000 cases last year and over 800 deaths, forcing authorities to implement a strict lockdown lasting more than 100 days