Four new cases as health authorities probe potential rule breaches linked to outbreak
Another Tarneit school has had a confirmed case, while the state opposition has accused the government of a cover-up over Wangaratta wastewater findings.
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Six new cases of locally acquired coronavirus were detected in the community on Friday, as Victorians woke to another day in lockdown.
And it has emerged the Islamic College of Melbourne in Tarnet was investigating a new case.
According to the Department of Health, Friday’s six new cases are all linked to previously reported cases but were not in quarantine during their infectious periods.
However, two of the cases — an “older member” and “younger member” of an Altona North household — were revealed at Thursday’s lockdown announcement.
Of the infections recorded overnight, three are linked to the Hobson’s Bay outbreak.
They include the two cases announced on Thursday, who are known contacts of an Al-Taqwa College teacher. They live in a separate household in Altona North.
The third case is another member of the family.
Meanwhile, the three remaining cases are all linked to the City of Maribyrnong outbreak.
One of the new cases is a housemate of the original case and is a cleaner who worked at Epworth hospital in Richmond.
CASE AT ANOTHER TARNEIT SCHOOL
In a newsletter sent to families on Friday evening, Islamic College of Melbourne in Tarneit principal Dr Abdul M. Kamareddine said the South East Public Health Unit was investigating a confirmed case of Coronavirus that attended the college in July.
“We have been advised that as the Public Health Unit could not identify an exact time the case was infectious, all staff, visitors and students are considered close contacts,” Dr Kamareddine said.
He said the school would close until further notice to enable a risk assessment and undergo an environmental clean.
“Unfortunately this means we will be unable to offer on school site supervision as of Monday, August 9.”
The man, who tested positive overnight, worked in consulting rooms on level six and eight of the medical centre at Epworth Richmond on August 2, 3 and 4 between 6pm and 9pm.
In a statement, Epworth Hospital CEO Lachlan Henderson said the contractor was cleaning the building after business hours.
He worked in the administration area, not in the wards, and authorities are working with the Epworth to assess who he may have come into contact with.
Health Minister Martin Foley says he is confident the Epworth will not be a transmission site.
“The infection prevention and control measures that Epworth had in place and the fact that the gentleman wasn’t exposed to patients, and was after-hours cleaning and their system of mask wearing, PPE provisions, their follow-up through CCTV confirming all of that has given everyone – including the Epworth and including our public health officials, confidence that it will not be a transmission site,” Mr Foley said.
The other two cases are known contacts of the original man, who live in a separate household.
One of those cases attends Warringa Park School, a specialist school in Hoppers Crossing.
It comes as families of the school were told to isolate and get tested.
In a text sent to parents on Thursday, the school said it would be closed on Friday.
If students or parents attended the main campus on Warringa Crescent on August 2, 3 or 4, they have been told to isolate until they receive a negative result.
It is not yet known whether the school is a Tier 1 or Tier 2 site.
Health authorities are probing whether prohibited household-to-household contact may have inadvertently sparked the latest outbreaks, as contact tracers battle to keep pace with the rapidly moving Delta variant. Two separate chains of transmission – dubbed the Hobsons Bay outbreak and the Maribyrnong outbreak – have already been identified, with fears more cases are set to emerge.
Authorities were on Thursday night working to uncover how a man in Maribyrnong caught the virus, probing a potential incursion from NSW.
The man, in his 20s, works at a Derrimut warehouse and his flatmate is the Epworth cleaner. A number of other family contacts of the man – from various households – are being tested.
Contact tracers are working on the possibility that man came into contact with relatives in Melbourne that had been recently cleared from NSW hotel quarantine.
“It may well be the case that they’ve been visited, against the rules, by a positive case,” Mr Andrews said.
Meanwhile, the husband of the Al-Taqwa College teacher who tested positive on Wednesday and was the state’s first mystery case in this outbreak, has also tested positive. The couple, in their 20s, live in the Hobsons Bay council area.
The husband is understood to work as an optometrist in Caroline Springs and plays at the Newport Football Club.
The Western Region Football League was placed on high alert, because he played in a senior match against West Footscray last Saturday.
Questions have been raised about delays in listing key exposure sites linked to the man.
Although he tested positive and notified his club on Wednesday afternoon, health authorities only listed the clubs and their Shorten Reserve match venue as an exposure site midmorning on Thursday.
In the wake of the cluster spreading to the Altona North household, another three members of the family are awaiting test results.
It comes amid speculation an “illegal” gathering had taken place, with Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar confirming multiple reports had been investigated.
It comes after a year 6 student from Heathdale Christian College (Werribee Campus) tested positive to Covid.
Both campuses of the school in Melbourne’s west have closed until further notice and Friday’s classes have been cancelled for all students.
In a Facebook post uploaded after midnight on Friday, the school said due to “cross-campus contact” anyone at either the Werribee or Melton campus on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday this week must isolate and get tested.
“Students and teachers in years 5 and 6 AND their households must continue to quarantine for 14 days even if they test negative and will be contacted by the public health unit or department,” the post read.
Heathdale Christian College is a 10-minute drive from Al-Taqwa College.
Health authorities are probing potential rule breaches in the outbreak that plunged the state back into stay-at-home restrictions, amid speculation members of different households attended an illegal gathering.
MEDICAL CENTRES LISTED AS EXPOSURE SITES
Two medical centres in Caroline Springs have been identified as tier one exposure sites after a positive case attended both venues.
Anyone who visited Active Medical Centre and Dorevitch Pathology Collection between 2.15pm and 3.40pm on the 2nd of August – must get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.
The Melbourne northwest suburb is already an area of concern for authorities, with Da Barber House in CS Square Shopping Centre identified as a tier one exposure site on Thursday.
ANDREWS GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF COVER-UP
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has accused the state government of a cover-up amid claims coronavirus was not detected in Wangaratta’s wastewater.
On Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews revealed virus fragments were found in the town’s wastewater, which is situated in the state’s northeast.
That discovery was behind the government’s decision to send all of regional Victoria into lockdown for one week until next Thursday evening.
Opposition Leader Mr O’Brien lashed out at the government on Friday.
“So Andrews ‘misspoke’ when he claimed Wangaratta had COVID in sewage,” Mr O’Brien said on Twitter.
“Now his flunkies are covering up for him instead of apologising.
“Andrews used Wang. as his excuse for a statewide lockdown …. Now the truth is out there, time to free up regional Vic where there’s no COVID.”
Mr Andrews earlier said he had clear advice to order the seven-day lockdown and warned any delay risked overwhelming the state’s hospital system.
Regional Victoria has joined Melbourne in the lockdown because of Covid wastewater detections in Wangaratta, Mr Andrews said.
However, on Friday, Wangaratta Mayor Dean Rees said Jeroen Weimar had spoken with the council’s chief executive and confirmed an error was made during Thursday’s announcement. He said Covid had not been detected in local sewage.
Mr Foley said: “We are in constant discussion with our officials, our locals, and our wastewater detection team.
“Whether it is Wangaratta, Mildura, the rules apply to us or because we are all facing a similar risk.”
More than 15 million people are now under lockdown as Victoria joined NSW and Queensland.
On Friday, Mr Foley refused to rule out the chance of future lockdowns.
“Nobody likes lockdowns. But as we’ve now established, they work,” he said.
“They’re one of our major tools in our public health response, and until such time as we have the levels of 70 to 80 per cent vaccinations, they’re going to continue to be a part of that tool kit.”
Having already endured more than six months of Melbourne lockdowns, business and industry leaders slammed the short-notice decision after suggestions emerged that the government had made the call as early as 10am.
But Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade Martin Pakula on Friday denied this claim.
Stay-at-home directions took effect from 8pm on Thursday, with Victorians banned from leaving home except to get food and supplies, for exercise, for care or caregiving, work or education, or to get vaccinated or tested.
It was the first time Victorians were given such short notice ahead of a lockdown. Authorities say they were keen to curb a trend of people heading out for one last night before restrictions came into force.
Schools and non-essential retail are closed, and private and public gatherings have been banned.
Face masks are mandatory indoors and outdoors unless an exemption applies. Exercise is limited to two people.
Hospitality venues can operate takeaway services only.
“The alternative is we let this get away from us and our hospitals will be absolutely overwhelmed – not hundreds of patients but thousands,” Mr Andrews said.
The Premier pleaded with all Victorians to follow the lockdown rules and immediately get tested at the first sign of any symptoms.
“If we don’t have that sense of common purpose and be as stubborn and determined as this virus, then we just have to look at what’s happening in other parts of the country, and that will happen here,” he said.
“There are many people, who are perhaps not doing as they should.”
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien described the lockdown as a “kick in the guts to every Victorian”.
BUSINESSES SAY SUPPORT IS ‘CHICKEN FEED’
Cash payments will automatically be made to almost 100,000 businesses hit hard by yet another lockdown in Victoria.
Workers who lose more than 20 hours over the next week are also eligible for a $600 Covid-19 disaster payment, to be delivered through Services Australia, while those missing out on less than 20 hours can receive $375.
The state and federal governments unveiled a $400m business support package on Friday, doubling the $400m fund promised last week to support businesses ravaged by the state’s last lockdown.
Read the full story here
PAYMENTS ON THE WAY
Victorians affected by the latest lockdown will be able to claim coronavirus disaster payments from next Friday.
Those who are eligible will receive $750 per week if they have lost 20 or more hours of work, and $450 per week if they have lost between 8 and less than 20 hours of work, or a full day of work.
In a statement released on Friday evening, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie said the federal government would “continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Australians as we make our way through this pandemic.”
The minister added: “People who are currently getting an income support payment and have lost more than 8 hours of work may be eligible to claim an extra payment of $200, as long as they meet the other eligibility requirements for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.”
Services Australia, which administers the federal government’s COVID-19 Disaster Payment, has so far processed more than 1.5 million claims totalling $1.46 billion.
TEACHER’S COVID TERROR
A Melbourne school teacher has revealed he thought he would die from coronavirus after emerging from intensive care.
Richard, a teacher at Bacchus Marsh Grammar School in Melbourne’s northwest, caught the virus from a friend who lives at Maribyrnong’s Ariele Apartments.
That apartment complex triggered Melbourne’s fifth lockdown following exposure from two COVID-positive removalists from Sydney.
Multiple staff and students at Bacchus Marsh School were also infected with the virus after the outbreak spread.
Speaking with the ABC’s Rafael Epstein on Friday afternoon, the 51-year-old, said he was “fit and healthy” before he caught the virus, and would regularly run and go to the gym.
The high school teacher said had grave concerns for his health after he was transported to hospital – seven days after he contracted the disease.
“I thought I was going to die,” he said.
The turning point, Richard said, was one a doctor told him: “you’re strong enough to get through this.”
The high school teacher lost 15kg and contracted pneumonia after he contracted the disease almost one month ago.
Despite leaving intensive care and being “covid-free”, Richard remains in hospital and said the recovery is challenging.
“If I stand up from the edge of the bed for like a minute, I’ll be breathless for 2 or 3 minutes,” he said.
“Pulling myself up in bed is tiring”.
He urged listers to “just get vaccinated” as soon as possible.
“It’s safe, it works, it will give you peace of mind,” he said.
“Look after yourself, because you never know”
‘MIXED MESSAGING’ ON SCHOOL’S JAB PROGRAM
Parents at Al-Taqwa College have expressed frustration at authorities, saying there had been “mixed messages” about the school’s fast-track vaccination program.
In a Zoom meeting on Friday afternoon held by the Department of Health and Al-Taqwa College families, several parents and students said they had received “conflicting information” from DHHS about the school’s vaccination program.
“I received a call today from DHS. They said I am unable to get a vaccine from the centre at school, but the communication from the school is that we are able to go and get vaccinated at the school,” one parent wrote in the chat log.
Another parent said: “The messaging from DHHS is so confusing, while you are encouraging people to get vaccinated and use the pop-up site at Al-Taqwa, the department is saying you can’t step out while isolating … if we aren’t allowed to step out who is the pop-up site for?”
A DHS worker, who was responding to parents in the meeting, was quick to clear up any confusion saying the vaccine option was available to the school community when they get tested at the school, not symptomatic, 16 and over and they access the vaccine during the same visit to the school.
Families also expressed anger over ongoing racial attacks toward the Islamic community.
“So much hate towards Al-Taqwa on social media,” one student wrote in the meeting.
The Herald Sun also found several social media posts racially attacking Al-Taqwa students and the wider Islamic community.
A mother, who has two children at the school, told the Herald Sun her family experienced racial attacks over last year’s outbreak.
“We are really scared about being targeted again, this isn’t our fault and we are working really hard to do the right thing,” she said.
It comes as Adel Salman, spokesman for the Islamic Council of Victoria, told families in the meeting there had been a spike of Islamophobic incidents and anti-Muslim sentiment during Covid.
He urged families experiencing Islamophobia to contact the ICV’s Islamic Support Service.
He told the Herald Sun was very concerned that a lockdown would prompt a fresh wave of racist attacks against Islamic students.
In a newsletter sent out to the school community on Friday, students were also advised the GAT had been postponed to a later date due to the 14-day isolation period.
Read the full story here.
NSW VIRUS CRISIS REACHES NEW PEAK
NSW has recorded 291 cases of Covid-19 overnight, with at least 50 cases infectious in the community, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed.
Tragically, a woman in her 60s from south-west Sydney died at Liverpool Hospital. Two new cases have also been recorded in the Newcastle area, taking the region’s total to 7 and Central Coast cases remain at nine.
Of the 291 locally acquired cases, 120 are linked to a known case or cluster – 95 are household contacts and 25 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 171 cases is under investigation.
Ninety-one were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 48 were in isolation for part of their infectious period.
Forty-eight cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of 104 cases remains under investigatio
The Premier also warned the state to brace for case numbers were expected to rise over coming days.
Read the full version of this story here.
COVID ALERT FOR NORTH-WEST SUBURBS
Residents in suburbs northwest of Melbourne are on high alert after viral Covid fragments were detected in wastewater in surrounding suburbs.
These suburbs include Attwood, Broadmeadows, Campbellfield, Coolaroo, Essendon Fields, Gladstone Park, Glenroy, Gowanbrae, Greenvale, Jacana, Meadows Heights, Oak Park, Pascoe Vale, Roxburgh Park, Somerton, Strathmore, Strathmore Heights, Tullamarine and Westmeadows.
The chief health officer said the unexpected detections may be due to an undiagnosed infectious case or a previously infected person “shedding” the virus.
Anyone who has visited the above suburbs between July 28 and August 4 is urged to monitor for symptoms and get tested if any develop.
MAP YOUR 5KM RADIUS
RULE BREAKERS WON’T BE SLAMMED
On Friday, Mr Foley refused to say if anyone who broke Covid rules and did not tell the truth would face penalties.
It came after Mr Andrews said he feared fining people caught breaching Covid restrictions could act as a disincentive for Victorians to get tested, or to be forthcoming with information.
“The key point here is we need to track and trace these cases. We need people to be truthful. “I don’t think they necessarily will be truthful if they are under fear of multiple $1500 fines for telling their story and allowing us to track and trace and close everything down.
“The easiest thing to say is let’s just throw the book at these people. Well, that won’t change case numbers, it will probably drive them up and we will still be locked down.”
“A small number of people who have done the wrong thing, or the virus, which one is our enemy here?”
When asked whether some people had knowingly done the wrong thing and contributed to the latest outbreak, Mr Andrews said he wouldn’t play the blame game.
“We can’t change what this person did. We can’t change the choices that this person made but we are very grateful to this person that they are working with us and telling us a full story rather than punishing them for that I think we should always encourage people to be upfront.”
INTERSTATE CASES GROW
NSW
Five people have died from Covid-19 and 262 people were diagnosed with the virus on Thursday. At least 45 cases were infectious in the community.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a one-week lockdown for the Hunter and upper Hunter Region including Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Dungog, Singleton and Muswellbrook from 5pm on Thursday.
QUEENSLAND
Queensland recorded 10 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Friday, as a decision looms on whether lockdown will be extended beyond Sunday.
TASMANIA
Premier Peter Gutwein said a man travelled from Sydney to Melbourne on Virgin flight VA808 on Monday and on to Launceston aboard Virgin flight VA1364, arriving at 11.45am the same day.
The man was unaware he was infected but had neither a Good-To-Go pass nor an exemption, and was ordered into hotel quarantine.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
There were no new cases of Covid-19 recorded. A man in his 80s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 70s remain in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
BORDER CLOSURES
TASMANIA
Tasmania declared Victoria high risk from 8pm on Thursday. This means anyone who has spent time in Victoria, will not be permitted to enter Tasmania unless they are a returning Tasmanian or approved as an Essential Traveller.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
GreaterMelbourne was declared a hotspot by chief health officer Hugh Heggie on Thursday.
WILD SCENES AT ANTI-LOCKDOWN RALLY
Hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters descended on Melbourne’s CBD hours after Victoria’s sixth lockdown was declared.
The large group met at Flinders St at 7pm on Thursday and marched into Swanston St shortly after and circled the CBD.
At least two flares were lit, with the crowd chanting “no more lockdowns”.
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