A worrying development for locals in the town, 321km northeast of Melbourne.

The resident at the 40-bed Hawthorn Village aged care home is being isolated in Melbourne after they were transferred there for unrelated health issues and tested positive on Sunday.

Following the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and now the Department of Health’s guidelines, an outbreak has now been declared with the home placed into lockdown for 14 days and all remaining 25 residents and staff deemed to have been close contacts placed into quarantine.

The home is run by Alpine Health, a Multi-Purpose Service with three sites in the Alpine Shire towns of Bright, Mount Beauty and Myrtleford which also runs the local Bright Hospital.

Alpine Health says no other staff or residents had so far developed coronavirus symptoms.

“Alpine Health is working closely with DHHS to identify, manage and control this outbreak in a safe and timely manner,” they said in a statement.

“All residents and their families have been notified and contact tracing has commenced and is ongoing.”