No new Covid cases; Melbourne returnees must isolate until negative test

There are no new cases of Covid-19 to report in the community or in managed isolation, the Ministry of Health has advised.

The ministry also said that following last night's announcement that New Zealand is pausing quarantine-free travel with Victoria until June 4, the ministry's contact tracing team emailed around 5000 people who had travelled from Melbourne between May 20-25.

The email instructed them to get a test and self-isolate at home or in the accommodation they are staying in until they have a negative result. It also instructed them to contact Healthline if they need further advice or to report if they had been at a location of interest.

Roughly 500 of those 5000 people were unable to be reached by email and are being followed up with phone calls and texts.

This follows contact tracers previously contacting everyone who returned to New Zealand from Melbourne since 11 May and providing advice on checking locations of interest and other actions required, according to the Ministry's statement this afternoon.

"The Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield is now requiring everyone who has visited the Greater Melbourne area since May 20 to isolate at their place of residence until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result.

"This is an additional precaution. The number of locations of interest around Melbourne has grown substantially, making it difficult for visitors to easily keep track."

Yesterday, Acting Victoria Premier James Merlino put the state in a seven-day "circuit breaker" lockdown in response to the new active cases in Melbourne.

There 30 positive community Covid cases in Melbourne – four new confirmed overnight.

That number, however, is expected to increase given there were 150 exposure sites across the city and more than 10,000 contacts identified.

Merlino will provide another update later today.

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