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'Stay home': Urgent Covid alert issued for 16 suburbs

Residents in more than a dozen Melbourne suburbs are being urged to watch for Covid-19 symptoms after virus fragments were detected in wastewater.

Ringwood and 15 other eastern suburbs are subject to an alert from the Department of Health on Tuesday evening.

"Please get tested if you have any symptoms, no matter how mild, and stay home until you have your result," the department said.

The detection of fragments came from a sample collected on April 8. Anyone who was in the listed suburbs between April 6 and April 9 are to monitor for symptoms.

Woman in PPE administering a Covid test (left) people on the street in Melbourne wearing masks (right).
Thousands of Melburnians are being urged to watch for Covid-19 symptoms. Source: AAP

The Department of Health say the fragments could be from an active case within the community or viral shedding from a previous case.

The state has not recorded a locally acquired case since February 26 when two cases were linked to the Holiday Inn cluster sparked by a quarantine leak.

However, states were on alert after an outbreak in Brisbane at the end of March triggered a snap three-day lockdown in the city.

At the time Victoria slapped travel restrictions on those who had been in the Greater Brisbane area.

This week those restrictions were finally removed in full, with the region moving from an orange to a green zone, meaning people arriving from the area no longer need to isolate and wait for a negative Covid test result.

The Byron shire, which was visited by a hen's party from one of two Brisbane clusters, is also now a green zone.

There are currently three active cases in Victoria, all in hotel quarantine. The state began welcoming overseas travellers last week after halting quarantine operations as a result of the Holiday Inn outbreak.

List of suburbs to watch for Covid-19 symptoms

  • Bayswater

  • Bayswater North

  • Boronia

  • Croydon

  • Croydon North

  • Croydon South

  • Heathmont

  • Kilsyth

  • Kilsyth South

  • Montrose

  • Ringwood

  • Ringwood East

  • Sassafras

  • The Basin

  • Tremont

  • Wantirna

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