Albury Wodonga Health contact tracers investigating source of new COVID-19 cases across region

Albury Wodonga Health contact tracers have began investigations to determine any new exposure sites in Wodonga after a COVID-positive person entered the city to provide care for a family member and was deemed a positive case on Wednesday night.

With Wodonga residents able to travel to Albury for daily life, the announcement Zed Bar had a COVID exposure on Friday is of huge concern given the increase in travel across the border.

Four tier-one exposure sites in Wangaratta, which include Wangaratta RSL, Pinsent Hotel and Old Town and Country Tavern, also have authorities on high alert, with four positive cases in two separate households confirmed in the town in the past 48 hours, but the virus was acquired outside the region.

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Albury Wodonga Health confirmed the cases in the two Wangaratta households weren't linked.

"We think it is quite possible we may see additional cases pop up in Albury and Wodonga over the next few days," Albury Wodonga Health public health director Lucie Shanahan said.

"We're not yet clear as to what the transmission might be like through any of the sites of concerns in Albury or Wangaratta. If businesses are letting you know they've had a COVID-positive visit and are closed for cleaning, our advice to the community is if you've been there during the time the businesses are advising is to go and get tested and isolated until you receive a negative result."

Four new cases were identified in Albury, two of which are linked to Zed Bar, with a further positive in Greater Hume.

Anyone who attended there on Friday, October 8 between 5.30pm and 11.15pm is considered a casual contact and should get tested.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District public health director Tracey Oakman said there is little information on the source of the case which attended Zed Bar, but further close contacts could yet emerge.

"We're just working through that with the case and the venue to confirm whether we need to put a higher isolation on anyone who may have been there at that time," she said. "It's timely to remind people that the virus is in Albury, it's in Wodonga, it's in our local region."

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