Hopes dashed for easing of restrictions as Preston cluster grows
An exposure alert has been issued for three Melbourne train lines and a Coles in Glenroy. It comes as a growing outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs has watered down hopes restrictions will be significantly eased, with Premier Daniel Andrews warning caution is needed.
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Victoria recorded seven new cases overnight and no deaths, with six of the new cases linked to known outbreaks.
Four of those cases are linked to the Preston area, and the health department is encouraging all East Preston Islamic College and Croxton School families and staff to get tested immediately even if they do not have any symptoms.
VICTORIANS TOLD TO WIND BACK EXPECTATIONS FOR SUNDAY
Premier Daniel Andrews has warned Victorians that restrictions may not be eased back as expected tomorrow amid a cluster of COVID-19 cases in northern Melbourne.
Mr Andrews said he wanted to “caution people from ... banking that tomorrow I’m making a whole series of detailed announcements about opening up”.
While he was “still optimistic that we will be able to have positive things to say” he gave Victorians a “note of caution”.
“We do hope to get to that point but with so many thousands of tests that are still being processed, we need to see the results of those tests.”
Mr Andrews said the key point of focus would be on whether new northern suburbs cases were linked or mystery cases.
“If they are not linked in any way, that speaks to the fact that there may be more virus in that northern part of the city than we would be comfortable with,” he said.
“It also speaks directly to the fact that if that is the case, then opening up can see case numbers explode.
“We have been in some respects in this position before and we have to do everything we can to avoid that.”
Mr Andrews said “if we can proceed tomorrow we will” regarding the easing of restrictions.
While Victoria was in a “strong position”, he said decisions would be dependent on testing results from today and the early hours of tomorrow morning.
“A lot of people had banked on tomorrow as the day where we would have absolute clarity about what October and November looks like,” Mr Andrews said.
“If we can do that we will, but the appropriate thing to do if you have thousands of tests in the laboratory being processed, you have to wait for the results”.
Asked if he would lock down hotspot suburbs, as had been done before, Mr Andrews said “I don’t think that would be the appropriate response”.
TRAINS INCLUDED IN NEW EXPOSURE SITES
A person who tested positive for coronavirus travelled Melbourne’s train network while infectious, the Department of Health has confirmed.
DHHS said the positive case travelled on the Craigieburn line on October 21 and 22 through Glenroy, North Melbourne and Yarraville stations between 6 and 6.45am.
The positive case also travelled between Yarraville, North Melbourne and Oak Park stations between 1.15 and 2pm.
The department also warned Victorians that a positive case had visited the Glenroy Coles on October 20 between 12 and 12.15pm.
The new exposures prompted a fresh appeal to Victorians to get tested.
“If you visited any of these locations during the times outlined, remain alert for COVID-19 symptoms,” the Department of Health said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.
If you have symptoms, no matter how mild, you should immediately get tested and stay home.”
NEW EXPOSURE SITES;
- Coles Glenroy on October 20 from 12pm to 12.15pm;
- Craigieburn, Werribee and Williamstown Lines on October 21. The case travelled on trains between Glenroy, North Melbourne and Yarraville from 6am to 6.45am, and between Yarraville, North Melbourne and Glenroy from 1.15pm to 2pm.
- Craigieburn, Werribee and Williamstown Lines on October 22. The case travelled on trains between Glenroy, North Melbourne and Yarraville from 6am to 6.45am, and between Yarraville, North Melbourne and Oak Park from 1.15pm to 2pm.
WHERE TO GET TESTED ON SUNDAY
Fifteen testing sites continue to operate across Melbourne’s north as authorities work to contain a growing outbreak.
Victoria’s Commander of Testing and Community Engagement, Jeroen Weimar, said the department was still concerned about the outbreak but was working hard in partnership with local leaders to encourage all locals to get tested.
“The Premier and I met with the affected schools’ principals and community and faith leaders (on Saturday morning) to make sure we are providing access to testing, information and support they need for their students and families – and that work will continue,” Mr Weimar said.
“The leadership team at EPIC have contacted families to advise of the drive through testing site at the school and scheduled families to come for testing at specific times to avoid long queues in the wet weather and to protect everyone during the testing process.
“Demand at a number of locations was high and where possible, we have added testers at some sites to meet that demand – but we still need more people getting tested, to ensure we have traced this virus.”
TESTING SITES
· East Preston Islamic College drive-through, 55 Tyler St, Preston, 24-27 October, 10am-5pm. Open to College staff and families
· Croxton School 159 Beaconsfield Parade, Northcote. Open to school staff and families
· Broadmeadows Central Shopping Centre, north carpark, Pascoe Vale Rd, Broadmeadows from 9am – 5pm.
· Melbourne Airport, Terminal 4 Level 2 (Mercer Dv exit off Tullamarine Fwy), from 9am – 5pm.
· Craigieburn Health Service, 274 – 304 Craigieburn Road, from 9am – 5pm.
· Roxburgh Park Youth and Recreation Centre, 75 Lakeside Drive, Roxburgh Park from 9am to 12.30pm and 1pm-5pm.
· Broadmeadows Community Hub, 182 Widford St, Broadmeadows, 23-25 October, 10am-5pm
· Banyule Community Health, 21 Alamein Rd, Heidelberg West, from 10am – 4pm.
· Heidelberg West, mobile unit aligned to community engagement movements including at Malahang Reserve, 23-25 October 10am-5pm. Weather dependent.
· Greensborough, 14 – 32 Civic Drive, Greensborough, from 9am – 4pm.
· Northland Shopping Centre, Target carpark via Murray Rd, Preston, from 9am – 5pm.
· CB Smith Reserve, 79 Jukes Rd, Fawkner, from 9am – 4pm.
· Reservoir Leisure Centre, 2A Cuthbert Rd, Reservoir, 23-25 October, from 10am-5pm
· Austin Hospital, 145 Studley Rd, Heidelberg, from 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and 8am – 5pm Saturday and Sunday.
· Coolaroo Respiratory Centre, 512 Barry St, Coolaroo, Monday to Friday, from 9am – 5pm.
· Sunbury, 29 Timins St, Sunbury, Monday-Friday 10am - 5.30pm
DELAY IN TESTING SITE SET-UP
A pop-up site was set up at the East Preston Islamic College premises on Saturday.
The Herald Sun arrived at the school about 9.30am where a tent was being set up in the car park.
About 15 cars began lining up from about 10am but were left waiting for over an hour before the site opened.
At 11.30am the first car was allowed through.
A handful of staff were seen clad in PPE.
Local Fahmi Adam and family were tested at the school site about midday.
Mr Adam said he was concerned about the outbreak.
“Two of my kids go to this school,” he said.
“You know, since March (my kids) didn’t go anywhere, the didn’t come to school, they didn’t visit anyone or go to a playground.
“They started last weekend and... this has happened. It is what it is.”
Mr Adam said he was happy to do his bit to stop any further spread in the community.
“We got a text message to come and get tested,” he said.
“We get tested now and are we waiting for our results.”
He said the school had been good at communicating with students and parents.
Meanwhile, a team of heavily PPE-clad personnel arrived at a house on the same street as the school.
They doorknocked a home before leaving a short time later.
FOUR MEMBERS OF ONE FAMILY TEST POSITIVE
Four members of the one family have tested positive, with one child attending Croxton School and another child attending East Preston Islamic College.
The child attended the Croxton School for one day after his mother tested positive, but before testing positive himself.
Similarly, the other child attended East Preston Islamic College on Monday despite being a close contact of a positive cases.
Both schools will be closed for two weeks.
Of the four new Preston area cases, one is a student at the East Preston Islamic College.
Both schools will remain shut for the next fortnight to minimise any potential spread of the virus.
“In addition, we are testing a number of secondary close contacts at Sirius College and Ilim College,” the DHHS said.
“They are connected to separate close contacts who will be tested again over this weekend.”
The Croxton school is a government run Prep - Year 12 facility based in Northcote that caters for students with mild intellectual disabilities.
101 close contacts from the East Preston Islamic College have been identified, and are quaranting.
One case has been confirmed at Croxton School, with 34 close contacts quarantining.
Fifteen testing sites have been set up across the northern suburbs.
The Premier said he had reached out community and faith leaders from the inner northern suburbs this morning to deliver the most appropriate public health response to the virus cluster.
“They’re reaching out to literally hundreds and thousands of people in their own networks, whether they be faith-based or community-based networks, he said.
“This virus does not, in any way, discriminate between different members of the Victorian community and neither does the government and its agencies when it comes to providing the most appropriate public health response.”
SCHOOL SUPPORTING FAMILY AT CENTRE OF CLUSTER
Principal Ekrem Ozyurek said he spoke with the family at the centre of the cluster on Saturday and that they were in “good spirits.”
He said the school community had rallied around one another, with many getting tested across the weekend.
“I’m getting a lot of support for the school and the families,” Mr Ozyurek said.
“I’m sure there will be some people saying negative things, but I’m very confident that the majority of the community would be behind us or anyone (battling coronavirus).”
Mr Ozyurek said the school was working with the department and wider community to ensure the message was being received by all, including those with English as a second language.
“We’ll just do the best we can to minimise the effect of this virus getting around,” he said.
“Hopefully we have learnt our lesson. From this we just have to say ‘what can we do’ so not to repeat any mistakes and how can we keep the community safe.
“Whatever we can do – we’ll keep educating our parents and our community about… how we can do it together.”
The school leader, who tested negative to the virus himself on Saturday, said classes would continue online while the campus was shut.
He said he was hopeful the school could return to normal in the coming weeks.
“We’ve just got to do the best we can and hopefully we get back to it, and get back to whatever’s left of the year,” he said.
“It would be very nice to see the kids again and let them finish on a positive note.”
He added: “We just have to be patient, do the right thing and help one another, support one another. It can happen to nobody, let’s work together.
“We are part of this community, we’ll do our part.”
ROLLING AVERAGE MILESTONE REACHED
Melbourne has reached the elusive 14-day rolling coronavirus average of five cases.
Victoria’s active cases have dipped to 98, dropping below 100 for the first time since June 19.
Only two active cases remain in the Shepparton area.
17,219 tests were processed on Friday.
Ten mystery cases remain, and all are in the metropolitan Melbourne area.
Six of the seven new cases are linked to known clusters, including outbreaks at East Preston Islamic College, Croxton School in Northcote, the Hoppers Crossing community outbreak and Estia Aged Care in Keilor.
The seventh case is under investigation, and is likely to be a false positive, the premier said.
“It’s a previous positive and we believe it’s likely to be persistent shedding of the virus rather than a new infection but, as we’ve seen all week, from an abundance of caution, those cases are treated as if they were a positive and they’ll be reviewed by the relevant expert panel at the appropriate time,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
There are three new cases in Darebin and single cases in Banule, greater Dandenong, Maribyrnong and Wyndham.
The premier said testing is “critically important” for controlling clusters in Melbourne’s north.
“Testing and what we do once we get those results essentially stops this virus spreading,” he said.
“If you’ve been asked to stay in your home - either pending a test result or because you’re a positive or a close contact - that’s critically important to do and that everybody, regardless of your background, everybody is in this together.”
The premier said he was optimistic about containing the northern suburbs outbreak.
“We have had a very, very strong week in terms of testing, right back to the weekend,” he said.
“We have turned up a relatively low number of cases this week and the vast majority have been linked to other known cases.
“So the dad has got it on Monday... then throughout the course of the week the rest of the family finish up testing positive.
“That is a very different set of circumstances to two and three and four, that we can’t, for the life of us, all the work we do, interview, reinterview, all the stuff, we can’t find linkages. “There are two very different things.”
PUB RULES TO BE EASED, STATE BORDERS OPENED BY CHRISTMAS
Victorians can look forward to trips to the pub with 500 of their closest friends by Christmas if virus suppression benchmarks agreed to at national cabinet are met.
Leaders agreed to a “COVID-normal” guide that outlines what Australians can expect as harsh measures continue to ease across the country, while social distancing measures remain in place.
The road map includes a list of hurdles states will need to clear for 14 days before they can move to the final stage outlined. All accommodation venues, retail stores and restaurants and cafes could be open — subject to 1.5m per person rules — before January.
The plan would also see Australians avoid public transport in peak hour, and universities and technical colleges return to face-to-face teaching where possible.
Domestic travel would also be unrestricted by Christmas, as well different rules for people coming from some “low risk” countries, including New Zealand.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said all states and territories — other than WA — were supportive of the scheme when it was discussed on Friday.
“This plan not only details the opening of various activities within our economy and within our community and society,” he said.
“An important part of this plan is that it includes the necessary actions that are needed on a public health response to support that plan.”
All leaders also agreed to take on board six recommendations put to them by Jane Halton following the completion of her hotel quarantine review.
A super-sized quarantine facility for Australians returning home could be included as part of the multi-pronged plan to deal with travellers, with changes expected to be announced within weeks. Tracking bracelets or anklets, smartphone apps and home quarantine could also be used.
Mr Morrison flagged some people arriving in Australia may also be able to quarantine on a farm, at a camp or at a mining campus when changes are implemented.
He said he wanted states to “innovative” when thinking up new ways of quarantining.
Victoria’s problem-plagued hotel quarantine system that caused the second wave was excluded from the review due to a separate inquiry.
ARARAT SEWAGE TEST ALERT
A mobile testing unit has been set up near the country town of Ararat after sewage testing revealed traces of coronavirus.
Regional Victoria is almost completely free of known COVID-19 infections, with only two active cases from the Shepparton outbreak still in the system. But the head of the Department of Health and Human Services contact tracing team, Jeroen Weimar, said the detection of traces of coronavirus in the bush sewage was a “warning sign” that would be pursued.
“It may be an old case … it may be a new case, at this point it’s a reminder that we are not rid of the virus,” he said. There are now only 98 active cases of the virus in Melbourne, with the main concern around an outbreak at the East Preston Islamic College.
A parent of a child at the school was the latest to test positive, with almost 800 people connected to positive cases now in isolation.
The school was closed on Thursday after a student attended the school when they were supposed to be quarantining after a confirmed case in a household member.
Premier Daniel Andrews said asymptomatic testing would be offered in the area as investigations continued into the cluster.
All 86 tests from residents of a public housing block in Broadmeadows came back negative late this week. “We believe there are another 30 or so people that normally reside at the building and we will be testing them over coming days,” Mr Weimar said.
Police have continued to crack down on rule breakers in a further bid to reduce the spread of COVID-19 cases, with 22 fines issued late this week. One of the wrongdoers was picked up after trying to travel to Ararat — where testing stations are set up after the sewage surveillance case.