Calls for asylum seekers to be freed from detention after Melbourne guard tests positive for Covid

Jeroen Wiemar downplayed the potential for spread at the Broadmeadows facility but advocates fear serious outbreak

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Asylum seeker advocates are calling for people held in immigration detention to be released into the community after Victorian health officials revealed a guard at a facility in Melbourne had tested positive for Covid-19.

Victoria's Covid commander, Jeroen Wiemar, on Sunday confirmed at least one coronavirus case at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accomodation centre in Broadmeadows in Melbourne's north.