Two ‘likely’ omicron community cases in Victoria as state confirms first case

Victoria has reported its first omicron case, found in a hotel quarantine case, as the state responds to two more suspected omicron cases in suburban Melbourne.

None of the two suspected cases were linked with international travellers, suggesting the highly contagious variant is prevalent in the community.

Testing and analysis of cases in South Africa suggests the virus is about 3 ½ times more contagious than the delta variant that defeated contact tracers in Victoria and NSW.

“Following whole genomic sequencing, the case in Hotel Quarantine reported yesterday has been confirmed as having the Omicron variant,” the Department of Health reported.

The department said it is leading a strong outbreak response into the two “likely omicron” cases.

“Two cases have returned results with S gene dropout – a signature of the omicron variant.”

“Cases have been identified in the cities of Casey and Brimbank.”

The department said household contacts of these cases have also tested positive and whole genome sequencing is under way to confirm whether these represent the omicron variant.

“None of these cases are linked to international travel and their source of acquisition is under investigation.”

The department has interviewed the cases and is taking a conservative approach to the designation of their contacts, including in non-household settings.

The department said a number of contacts have been identified and instructed to quarantine for 14 days.

Other people of lower risk have been instructed to get a test and isolate until they receive a negative result. The department said further contact tracing work was ongoing and was likely to produce more contacts.

Experts say the real world level of transmissabilty for omicron will depend on how effective vaccines and infection immunity are against the new variant.

Experimental lab testing is suggesting a 20 to 60 fold reduction in antibody neutralisation from the omicron variant, suggesting there will need to a strong campaign for boosters and a rapid development of variant specific booster.