Victoria has confirmed eight new coronavirus cases as authorities ramp up their efforts to identify clusters and close contacts to fight the virus.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen says the total number of infections is 1580, only 97 of which are active.
Dr van Diemen says none of the new cases belonged to three Melbourne aged care homes that had been put into lockdown after residents tested positive for the coronavirus.
HammondCare's Caulfield Village went into lockdown after an 84-year-old woman in its dementia ward tested positive on Monday before a second swab came back negative on Tuesday.
She has been tested for a third time, with results expected on Thursday.
"She's doing really well, she is actually in good health," HammondCare chief executive Stephen Judd said on Wednesday.
More than 150 staff and residents have tested negative, Dr Judd said.
It follows a similar situation at the Villa Maria Aged Care Home at Bundoora, where a resident who was taken to hospital at the weekend with a fever returned an inconclusive test result.
Subsequent tests were negative, but the nursing home will remain in lockdown.
"We don't want to take any chances, we want to be absolutely sure we have had a full incubation period with no cases because it is still possible there are people who are incubating disease," Dr van Diemen said.
"We can't just move people out, these are people's homes."
Meanwhile, a resident at Lynden Aged Care at Camberwell was diagnosed with COVID-19 while being treated at a metropolitan hospital, prompting the facility to also shut its doors to visitors on Tuesday.
Close contacts of the infected resident have been ordered to quarantine at home.
The effort to identify close contacts of positive cases led to the COVIDSafe app being used for the first time in Victoria.
A spokesperson for the state's health department on Wednesday confirmed a person diagnosed on Monday had downloaded the federal government app and consented to authorities using the data to track down people who may have been exposed.
"With only a small number of cases in Victoria, there have been few opportunities to use the app so far. We hope this continues," the health department spokesperson said.
Dr van Diemen highlighted the importance of the app as the data downloaded from the positive patient revealed one close contact who hadn't been identified before.
Among the new cases confirmed on Wednesday are two healthcare workers from Kyabram District Health Service who didn't work while infectious, Dr van Diemen said.
A subcontractor for ADCO Constructions has also tested positive after working on renovations at St Leonard's College in Brighton.
The worker was showing no symptoms at the time they were working at the private school but was likely infectious. The construction site has been closed for deep cleaning.
Another new case is linked to the Cedar Meats cluster while four remain under investigation.
Dr van Diemen said investigations were ongoing to determine whether the McDonald's and Cedar Meats clusters were linked.
Australian Associated Press
