Greg Hunt asks Victorian officials to be ‘transparent’ amid fears in Mornington Peninsula

The federal health minister has written to his Victorian counterpart asking them to ‘make sure’ they are giving ‘all the details’.

The federal health minister says he will ask the Victorian government for greater transparency about Covid-19 transmission on the Mornington Peninsula, amid fears contact tracers are struggling to keep up with surging cases.

There are now 55 active cases in the Peninsula, but only two locations have been listed by Victoria Health – an aged care home in Hastings and an ice cream shop in Frankston.

On Monday morning Woolworths listed their Mornington store as an exposure site on September 30 between 6am and 12.30pm, a listing that has not yet been reflected by Victorian authorities.

Greg Hunt, who’s division of Flinders takes in the Peninsula, said he was aware of the concerns, and would be stepping in to get some answers.

“I’ll be writing to them (the Victorian Government) today to ask them to ensure that there is full public reporting so people are given all the details, they’re able to take all the precautions, and they’re able to protect themselves,” Mr Hunt told 3AW on Monday.

There are fears among residents of the Mornington Peninsula that they are not being told enough about new cases, which the state government denies. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton was asked during his Covid update on Monday about the Mornington situation, to which he said his team had always been “nothing but transparent” and was not aware of any reporting lags.

“Where (exposure) occurs, and we need to inform the general population, we do so,” Professor Sutton said.

“There are circumstances where a setting is being followed up as a workplace setting and no members of the general public have interacted with that setting or site and therefore (there is) no need for the specific publication of that exposure site but where it is required, absolutely we will do so.”

The only Tier 1 exposure sites listed within the Mornington Peninsula are the Bays Aged Care at Hastings, which has six full dates of exposure between Saturday September 25 and Friday October 1.

Gelato UNOU in Seaford has been listed as a Tier 2 exposure site for September 27, between 1pm and 6pm.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said he would ask Victorian authorities about whether more transparency was needed regarding the outbreak in the Mornington Peninsula. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Mr Hunt was also asked about the low numbers of Pfizer available at some vaccine clinics in the Peninsula, namely in Rosebud and Seaford.

“There are over 30 different Commonwealth points of presence on the Peninsula for people to get vaccinated, but we’ll work with that clinic to see what the circumstances are,” Mr Hunt said.

“It is actually a Commonwealth vaccination clinic, so it’s been very well supplied …”

As of Sunday, 84.5 per cent of Mornington Peninsula residents aged over 16 had received their first dose of vaccine, and 58.4 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Originally published as Greg Hunt asks Victorian officials to be ‘transparent’ amid fears in Mornington Peninsula