A second Black Lives Matter protester in Melbourne has tested positive for coronavirus.
The young woman attended a rally along with thousands of other protesters in Melbourne last weekend.
The news comes just over a week after a man in his 30’s, who also attended the rally, tested positive to the virus.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the cases were unlikely to be related and that the woman was not likely to have transmitted the virus to others, as she was wearing personal protective equipment.
“Because we’ve prompted everyone who’s attended the protest with any symptoms…to come forward for testing, this individual has been identified as a positive case,” he told reporters.
Encouraging protesters to undergo testing if they developed any symptoms, Prof Sutton said he wasn’t convinced there had been transmission at the protest.
“It’s really in that first week that people overwhelmingly develop symptoms, so any cases really should be out there now,” he said.
The protester was one of Victoria’s 12 new coronavirus cases recorded on Monday, seven of which were linked to a family outbreak that has seen 11 members infected.
Four of the family members to test positive are children who attended two different schools in Melbourne, prompting their closure while cleaning and contact tracing are carried out.
Australia has recorded 7335 coronavirus cases overall, with 3131 in NSW, 1732 in Victoria, 1065 in Queensland, 602 in Western Australia, 440 in South Australia, 228 in Tasmania, 108 in the ACT, and 29 in the Northern Territory.
Rallies around the country went ahead over the weekend, despite health officials urging residents to stay home.
The rally held at Perth’s Langley Park on the weekend attracted a 10,000-strong crowd.
Attendees protested against Aboriginal deaths in custody and racism and carried an array of signs with emotional messages from people of all ages.
Organisers said Saturday’s rally, which went ahead despite pleas from Premier Mark McGowan for it to be postponed, was just the beginning of their fight to improve Indigenous lives and end racism.
