‘Every tool’ will be used to track Melbourne truck driver’s movements
More details have emerged of the truck driver who unknowingly seeded coronavirus to regional Victoria, with the Melbourne man said to be racked with guilt after infecting his elderly father in Kilmore. Authorities this week revealed that he concealed a visit to Shepparton, where a new outbreak has spread.
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The Melbourne truck driver who spread the coronavirus to two regional towns is the father of an apprentice employed at Chadstone’s The Butcher Club.
The father – who health authorities have dubbed the “index case” for the regional clusters – concealed from contact tracers his visit to Shepparton on September 30.
The Herald Sun can reveal he also spread the virus to his elderly father, one of the confirmed cases in the Kilmore cluster.
Sources said the man was suffering “so much guilt” for spreading COVID-19 to his vulnerable father, whose condition is understood to be stable for now.
The driver, his female partner and his adult son — the apprentice — share the same house and are currently hunkering down in quarantine while each battling the virus.
The man travelled to the Kilmore, Benalla and Shepparton areas on September 29 and 30 - but authorities would not say whether he stayed overnight.
He isolated as soon as he got home on September 30, when he discovered he was a close contact of a case.
He first showed symptoms and was tested the following day, receiving a positive result on October 2.
Although he had a permit to travel for work, the truckie broke public health guidelines by visiting Oddfellows Cafe in Kilmore – where he was only permitted to get takeaway.
His stopover in Shepparton was only discovered when a woman who became symptomatic over the weekend tested positive on Tuesday.
Two of her colleagues subsequently tested positive.
The Department of Health’s compliance unit is probing the man’s case, with Premier Daniel Andrews confirming it had been referred to police to “make further judgments”.
Under the public health act, it is an offence to hinder or obstruct an authorised officer, and under state of emergency powers it is an offence to provide false or misleading information — breaches which can each attract a $9913 fine.
It is not clear whether the man could be charged under these laws.
Victoria Police have been contacted for comment.
But Oddfellows Cafe said in a Facebook post called for people found not to be co-operating with contact tracers to be fined – and the money passed onto “the victims who become infected”.
The cafe said that people’s mental and physical health had been “impacted greatly” because “someone didn’t follow restrictions”.
“I think the current law on not being fined if you co-operate is wrong, they should be fined double if they are found not to be co-operating,” the Facebook post said.
“They are risking the health & lives of others & need to be made accountable.
“Some of those victims will have life long medical conditions from this virus.
“There’s a difference between not knowing you have came in contact with the Virus & knowing you have & risking others.”
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said he could not yet guarantee the man had not travelled anywhere else.
He said further work was being done to verify the man’s movements, and authorities had the power to contact employers and seek further information.
“We’ll have to use every tool at our disposal,” Prof Sutton said.
“If we have to interrogate phones for GPS information, those powers are available.”
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Contact: brianna.travers@news.com.au
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