Victorian authorities urge partygoers to come forward for testing as COVID-19 cluster grows

Victorian health officials now have 15,000 primary and secondary contacts linked to the current COVID-19 outbreak and yet again saw record testing rates yesterday, but they are also well aware that not everyone is checking into venues with QR codes.

With the state now in its first day of lockdown after four new cases were reported yesterday taking the current cluster to 30, the number of exposure sites continues to rise but there are five in particular that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is homing in on.

DHHS Deputy Secretary Jeroen Weimar says it is believed one of the new cases identified yesterday contracted the virus at the The Sporting Globe in the beachside suburb of Mordialloc between 6:15pm and 9:45pm on Sunday, 23 May.

"We now see the significant risk, particularly at those social venues - the bars and clubs that our exposure list has - and we're very keen to ensure that people who have been to those places at those times come forward very quickly," Weimar said.

These five venues include The Sporting Globe in Mordialloc at the stated times, as well as the following:

• The Three Monkeys bar, Prahran - 9:10pm-11pm on Saturday, 22 May and 12:30-2am Sunday, 23 May.
• Somewhere Bar, Prahran - 10:30pm-1am on the night of Saturday, 22 May and Sunday, 23 May.
• The Palace Hotel, South Melbourne - 5:45-6:45pm on Saturday, 22 May.
• The Local, Port Melbourne - 1:30-3:30pm on Friday, 21 May.

"If you've been to those locations, you've been out partying with somebody who was COVID-positive at the same time in that space," he said.

"Our real focus over the next day or two is going to be on identifying any additional people that ignored the current QR code systems - if you did not check in, we really need you to come forward to make sure that we can get you tested and isolated."

Updated at 11:29am AEST on 28 May, 2021.