Dozens of people exposed to coronavirus were allowed out in public after it took Victorian investigators a week to confirm a “weak positive” test result.
Dozens of people exposed to the British coronavirus strain at a Coburg family gathering were allowed out in public after it took investigators a week to confirm a “weak positive” test result.
As details of the latest cases raised concerns of a gap in the containment ring around the Holiday Inn outbreak, Health Minister Martin Foley said it was too soon to know whether Victoria’s five-day lockdown would be extended.
The Queen Victoria Market and two tram routes added to the list of exposure sites were late on Sunday.
Victoria — which has stopped taking international arrivals — also triggered a political storm after refusing to say if it will take the same number of arrivals it used to when lockdown ends.
After the first case was confirmed on February 7, the Holiday Inn outbreak on Sunday rose to 16 cases when the first non-household contacts were confirmed to have COVID-19.
Investigations have now concluded the latest cases — a three-year-old child and a woman — caught the highly infectious B117 variant at a private gathering in Sydney Road, Coburg on February 6.
Despite first examining the gathering a week ago when it was revealed a COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria worker had attended, contact tracers ruled it out as an exposure site when the woman tested negative on February 7 — meaning most of the 38 guests did not have to isolate.
It was only when another male attendee later tested positive investigators re-examined the woman’s negative test in more detail and found it was actually a “weak positive”.
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton defended the week it took to identify the Coburg risk, saying there had been no reason to isolate guests based on the woman’s initial negative test.
“We do not have exposure sites for people who return negative tests — all we can do is remain alert to any other results that came through to find out how transmission may have occurred,” Prof Sutton said.
“The Coburg venue wasn’t in scope because of that negative test the day after the event took place.
“It was in getting another case out of that setting that we identified that transmission might have occurred there.”
Prof Sutton said false-positives and false negative COVID-19 test results were extremely rare.
Health Minister Martin Foley said while almost 1000 close primary contacts linked to the Holiday Inn cluster had been identified and contacted, it was too soon to measure the success of the snap statewide lockdown.
“It is too early to say whether we have been successful but the signs that show Victorians are doing the right thing, supporting each other and our test trace and isolate system is staying ahead of this,” Mr Foley said.
Deakin University chair of epidemiology Catherine Bennett said her main concern for the next 48 hours was the cases linked to the “spreader event” in Coburg.
“We will know in the next 48 hours how they are going in terms of the ring of contacts,” Prof Bennett said.
There are now 21 active coronavirus cases across Victoria.
The Queen Victoria Market and route 11 and 58 trams were added to the list of exposure sites. Elite Swimming in Pascoe Vale, Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre in Pascoe Vale, and Woolworths and Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse in Broadmeadows Central were also declared exposure sites.
GIPPSLAND PUB BLASTS LOCKDOWN
A pub in Victoria’s east has blasted Premier Daniel Andrews five-day lockdown, saying local businesses are “dying here”.
The Metung Hotel sent out the tweet on Sunday afternoon, pleading with the government to “let East Gippsland open”.
“Dear Dan... Zero cases ever and we are just dying here 350kn (sic) from nearest case,” the post reads.
The hotel continues to state they would only serve locals and people not from Melbourne in order to keep their doors open.
“We are really stuggling (sic),” the post says.
Metung and surrounding areas were already doing it tough after the 2019/2020 summer bushfires, which ravaged local towns, and relies on tourists over the warmer months to support businesses.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5oZXJhbGRzdW4uY29tLmF1L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzL3Bvc2l0aXZlLWNhc2UtZnJlZS10by1yb2FtLWFmdGVyLXJlc3VsdC1mbGF3L25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvMTc4MWJmNTdiMjViNmY5OTRhOTI4YmVjNzNmMmY1YzDSAYUBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaGVyYWxkc3VuLmNvbS5hdS9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy9wb3NpdGl2ZS1jYXNlLWZyZWUtdG8tcm9hbS1hZnRlci1yZXN1bHQtZmxhdy9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzE3ODFiZjU3YjI1YjZmOTk0YTkyOGJlYzczZjJmNWMwP2FtcA?oc=5
2021-02-14 21:27:41Z
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