FOUR Melbourne nursing homes are exposed to Covid with another worker testing positive and two aged care residents feared infected as the city faces new coronavirus disaster and longer lockdown
An aged care worker who tested positive is Victoria's new mystery Covid case
The home's local MP Bill Shorten said two residents have since tested positive
There are thought to be among five new cases reported on Monday morning
Four nursing homes are now exposed with another worker testing positive
Popular Coles and Kmart stores in Melbourne's north declared exposure sites
Acting Premier James Merlino has not ruled out extending stay-at-home orders.
Victoria's coronavirus outbreak is on the brink of spiralling out of control and lockdown being extended after four aged care homes were exposed to the virus.
A resident at the Arcare facility in Maidstone, Melbourne caught the virus after an infected staffer worked while infectious, with another worker also testing positive on Monday.
The staff member, despite working with vulnerable people and being eligible for the jabs since February, was not vaccinated and the resident has only had their first jab.
An escalating situation in aged care could see Victoria facing an extended lockdown as its cluster swelled to 45 on Monday, with 279 exposure sites.
The elderly resident and second Arcare staffer are thought to be among the five new cases reported on Monday, as well as a separate care home worker at BlueCross Western Gardens.
A further two aged care homes, Royal Freemans Coppin Centre and Royal Freemasons Footscray, have also been exposed as its workers are close contacts of the Arcare staffer.
Health bosses are holding their breath waiting for more test results from the nursing homes, with all four in lockdown and residents confined to their rooms.
Of Australia's 910 Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic began, three-quarters have been linked to aged care.
The Arcare employee, who is in her 50s, was infectious for two days while she worked at the facility before testing positive on Saturday.
Contact tracers have been scrambling work out how she caught the virus because she has no known links to Victoria's other infections, which are all linked to one another.
She is a close contact of the Western Gardens worker who has since tested positive, as well as the two Royal Freemasons workers, whose tests are still being processed.
University of South Australia chair of epidemiology Adrian Esterman said the next 48 hours will be critical in determining whether vulnerable residents were at risk, and whether the state's seven-day lockdown will be extended.
