Brett Sutton to face grilling at contact tracing inquiry
Brett Sutton — who heads Victoria’s contact tracing team — will be grilled over how the system performed during the state's second wave.
Coronavirus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coronavirus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton will be grilled on the failures of the state’s contact tracing team on Monday after other witnesses has revealed the system was “overwhelmed” and sick Victorians were denied tests.
The Herald Sun has confirmed Prof Sutton – who heads the state’s contact tracing team – will be among the Department of Health and Human Services executives to appear before the parliamentary inquiry next week to face questions on went wrong.
The new DHHS secretary Professor Euan Wallace will also appear, along with testing commander Jeroen Weimar and former deputy chief health officer Annaliese van Diemen.
It comes after Australia’s chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel told the inquiry on Wednesday that Victoria’s contact tracing system was “overwhelmed” at the height of the pandemic.
“It all comes to preparation and there’s no question the Victorian system was overwhelmed,” he told an inquiry.
“I didn’t go in and investigate but I just felt it wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Dr Finkel also testified that cases were lost and duplicated and that the current system – although improved – would not be brought online fully until Christmas.
His comments conflict with Premier Daniel Andrews statements throughout the pandemic that there were no issues with the contact tracing system.
This was despite people reporting no contact from the DHHS days after finding out they were a close contact of a confirmed case and taking it upon themselves to get tested and self isolate.
The state’s contact tracing team started out at less than 100 employees and was increased to 2100 in July, but Mr Andrews said benchmarks were being met.
In September, after Dr Finkel had visited to inspect the system Mr Andrews even claimed the system was so good NSW would emulate elements of it – a suggestion denied by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
The inquiry also heard from Tony Kairouz, the general manager of Cedar Meats — the site of Victoria’s first major outbreak with 111 cases in May.
The factory pushed for testing of 350 workers on-site before the site was officially closed but Mr Kairouz said officials did not think it was necessary to test everyone.
“We knew how difficult it would be to communicate with 350 people of such diverse backgrounds … language barriers, after they had left the business,” he said.
“Testing them onsite would have ensured a more controlled environment to capture and control the outbreak.”
Mr Kairouz also revealed that one worker was twice in 10 days denied a coronavirus test because he did not appear to have “all” COVID symptoms, only to return a positive result on his third attempt.
This meant the alarm was first raised for the abattoir only when a second worker tested positive at Sunshine Hospital while being treated for a severed finger.
BRETT SUTTON ‘SHAMED’ ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR NOT WEARING MASK AT PICNIC
The most brutal and bizarre lockdown rules imposed on Melburnians
From the bonk ban, the bubble system, the 5km radius, the ‘ring of steel’ to the closure of playgrounds and outdoor basketball courts, these are some of the harshest restrictions on our freedoms.
Health boss who played key role in Victoria’s Covid response stands down
The Department of Health secretary who became a public figure making tough and controversial decisions during the pandemic will depart amid a leadership reshuffle.