Melburnians wait to learn whether or not the lockdown will be extended beyond June 3, 2020. (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
Source: ABCNews
Victorian health officials say the state is running neck-and-neck with this COVID-19 crisis and the next few days will be critical.
With 11 new locally acquired cases identified on Monday and the worrying news that coronavirus has been found in aged care, the situation is looking grim.
Both Brett Sutton, the Chief Health Officer, and James Merlino, the Acting Premier, have stressed all options are on the table.
“We have to prepare for anything, we don’t know what will unfold in coming days,” Professor Sutton said.
Mr Merlino said it was a day-by-day proposition.
“The next few days are going to be critically important and that includes the possibility that this outbreak will get worse before it gets better,” he said.
So here’s what we need to look for to get an indication of how we’re tracking.
1. New cases — are they linked?
So far almost all the cases have been linked and ultimately traced back to the first case in almost three months, the man from Wollert who became infected in hotel quarantine in South Australia.LIVE UPDATES: Read our blog for the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic
Health officials are hoping to find out today whether the new case in a worker at the Arcare Aged Care home at Maidstone, in Melbourne’s west, is linked to that case.
There are currently more than 50 active cases.
But Mr Merlino told reporters “it’s not just about the case numbers”.
“It’s the type of cases, it’s where it’s occurring, it’s do we know where they’re linked, are they high-risk sites?” he said.
“All of those things are taken into account by the public health team in terms of when they’re confident to provide advice to government that we can then go towards some easing of restrictions.”
2. Total active contacts
Victoria’s contact tracers have been working at a furious pace trying to keep track of 4,200 active close contacts.
And those people still must complete 14 days of isolation before those cases are cleared.
It’s a huge task, but Jeroen Weimar, the COVID-19 testing commander, says more than 77 per cent of them have so far tested negative.
But each new case throws up a new group of primary close contacts and exposure sites.
So the number of primary close contacts is one to watch.
3. Exposure sites
The number of exposure sites has soared in recent days further complicating efforts to control the spread of the virus.
There are now more than 300 exposure sites including several schools and Footscray Market in Melbourne’s west and Brimbank Shopping Centre in the north.
Mr Merlino said there was no doubt the situation was “incredibly serious”.
Health officials are also very concerned about a number of high-risk exposure sites which are seeing a small number of cases infecting large number of contacts.
Mr Weimar said there was particular concern around the following four exposure sites:
JMD Grocers & Sweets at 768 High Street Epping; Healthy India at 276 Broadway, Reservoir, and two sites at Footscray Market — Thai Huy Butcher Shop 144, and Inday Filipino Store 121.
Anyone with symptoms or who had visited any of the exposure sites must get tested and isolate.
For the most up-to-date information, visit the Department of Health coronavirus website.
4. What’s happening in aged care?
There are now four cases linked to aged care settings in Victoria which have prompted alarm in the wake of a large number of deaths in last year’s second wave.
“The fact that this outbreak has crept into a number of private residential aged care facilities is obviously of very great concern to the Victorian government,” Health Minister Martin Foley said..
The first worker with a positive test at Arcare was identified on the weekend.
The other worker, one of the three positive cases identified on Monday, had worked at two sites and was also unvaccinated.
The central issue is about why aged care staff continued to work at more than one aged care setting, which was found to have contributed to the outbreak last year.
Workers in state-run facilities no longer work at multiple sites but the rule is not enforced in the majority of privately operated aged care facilities which are regulated by the federal government.
The question of mandatory vaccination of aged care staff has been referred to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee — comprised of state and territory chief health officers and Commonwealth officials.
