The hotel quarantine worker who tested positive to coronavirus has the especially virulent UK variant.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Friday confirmed the 26-year-old Noble Park man had the strain.

“It is a more transmissible variant of concern,” he said.

“We’ve always worked on the assumption that it was going to be this variant.

“We’re confident at the moment it’s not been picked up in the community but from one of the residents in the hotel.”

The Grand Hyatt Hotel, where Australian Open tennis players and officials were quarantined, can be seen from Melbourne Park.
The Grand Hyatt Hotel, where Australian Open tennis players and officials were quarantined, can be seen from Melbourne Park. Credit: DAVE HUNT/AAPIMAGE

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