How Chadstone cluster started and spread to Kilmore and Shepparton — stopping us from hitting our target before Sunday
It’s not a stretch to say the now-linked Chadstone and Shepparton outbreaks may have stopped Melbourne from reaching an all-important target this Sunday. Here’s the moment it all went wrong.
HS Coronavirus News
Don't miss out on the headlines from HS Coronavirus News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It started with a single sick cleaner and has now, with the help of a rule-breaker, has spread to 57 people across Melbourne and into two regional towns.
We’ve been told for months just how infectious coronavirus can be, but the Chadstone cluster is the stark illustration of it.
On Wednesday there were 186 active cases in Victoria. 32 are linked to clusters at Chadstone’s Butcher Club, two Frankston households where the outbreak started, Kilmore’s Oddfellows Cafe and a Shepparton tyre shop.
A total of 57 people have been infected from these outbreaks and 32 are still fighting the virus.
It’s not a stretch to say the latest outbreak may have stopped Melbourne from reaching it’s all-important 14-day rolling day average target of five or fewer cases a day.
The first outbreak began when a Frankston cleaner went to work at The Butcher Club in Chadstone on Monday September 21.
She was infectious and it spread to a manager, who ended up in hospital, customers, other employees and their families and household connections.
Another rule breaker, a Melbourne truckie related to a Butcher Club employee, then travelled to Kilmore for permitted work reasons but later, against regulations, ate breakfast at Oddfellows Cafe on September 30.
A staff member and one of his close contacts were subsequently infected.
That truck driver was also found to have travelled to Shepparton on the same day but hadn’t told health authorities of his whereabouts until Tuesday night — almost two weeks since he made the trip.
His cross-country road trip also included a visit to Benalla’s White Line Tyres on the same day.
A woman who works at Central Tyre Services in Shepparton tested positive, as did two other employees, on Tuesday night.
Victoria’s daily case numbers were fast-declining until the Chadstone cluster began on September 21.
Victoria’s lowest daily case number, of five cases, was on September 28 — one week after the cleaner worked at Butcher’s Club.
Two weeks later, after the 14-day virus incubation period, Victoria’s daily case number more than doubled to 12 cases.
Ever since, Victoria has struggled to achieve single digit case numbers, which has affected its chances of seeing restrictions ease this Sunday October 19.
If case numbers continued to fall and remain low, Melbourne could have taken a major step in easing restrictions, but this now seems unlikely after cases and new outbreaks continue to emerge.
FRANKSTON HOUSEHOLD CLUSTER
A woman contracted the virus from a sick family member she was living with in Frankston.
The woman was a cleaner at The Butcher Club in Chadstone and worked between Monday 21 and Wednesday 23 September, but called in sick on Thursday September 24, was tested on 25 and returned a positive result on September 26.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the cleaner lived with nine other people.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said contact tracers found a link between the Frankston household and Chadstone clusters on Thursday October 1.
The DHHS later made the link between two Frankston households who had coronavirus on October 8 — one week after establishing the Frankston/Chadstone link.
The Butcher Club reportedly did not know the cleaner had tested positive until Monday September 28, because contact tracers only discovered the cleaner had worked at The Butcher Club after another staff member got sick.
A total of 13 people across two households in Frankston had the virus.
CHADTSONE CLUSTER
The Butcher Club owner Peter Robinson said a female cleaner first spread the virus to a male manager at the Chadstone workplace. The manager tested positive on Monday 28 September and has since been in ICU twice for his condition. Butcher’s Club reportedly gave the DHHS a list of workers who came into contact with the manager on Tuesday 29. DHHS became aware of the Butcher Club manager hospital admission and made connections between clusters. The DHHS only told staff of his positive diagnosis on 30 September.
Another Butcher Club worker, an apprentice and son of a Melbourne truck driver, became ill and was tested for coronavirus on 29 September.
By October 1, eight cases were linked to the cluster, which grew to 11 on October 2 and 31 cases on October 7 (which included eight staff, 11 family and household contacts, and four customers). The DHHS deemed the cluster contained on October 7.
A total of 35 cases were linked to this cluster.
KILMORE CLUSTER
The male truck driver, the father of a man who worked at the Butcher Club apprentice, travelled to regional Victoria for work on September 29. He stayed overnight in Kilmore at a private residence. On September 30, he stopped at the Oddfellows Cafe for breakfast between 7am and 10am. Being from Melbourne, the truck driver was in breach of lockdown rules as he was only permitted to get takeaway food and not dine-in.
This man infected a cafe worker, and another close contact of his, as a result of his movements on September 30. On September 29, the DHSS listed The Butcher Club as a high-risk area — but for some reason the truck driver did not get the message.
His son’s tests results came back on the 29 September, but the truck driver had already left for Kilmore at this stage and did not isolate as he wasn’t aware he was a close contact.
Oddfellows Cafe was listed as a high-risk location on October 4.
The truck driver returned from his Kilmore trip on September 30, fell ill on October 1 and got tested. He returned a positive result on October 2. The DHHS told Oddfellows owner Kim Short on October 5 a positive case had dined at the cafe. That same day, Ms Short found out a staff members who had come into contact with the diner had tested positive.
CHO Brett Sutton said he was ‘hopeful’ the Kilmore cluster was under control on October 10. A total of six cases have been linked to this cluster.
SHEPPARTON CLUSTER
A male truck driver, who caught coronavirus from a relative and Butcher Club employee he was living, also infected a Shepparton tyre shop employee on September 30.
DHHS commander for testing Jeroen Weimar said three new Shepparton cases were linked to Chadstone and Kilmore clusters.
The Melbourne man only told contract tracers he went to Shepparton on Sept 30, on Tuesday October 13, almost a fortnight since his visit.
Goulburn Valley Health CEO Matt Sharp said targeted testing of a ‘small number of people’ resulted in two further positive tests linked to the tyre shop on Wednesday.
MORE NEWS:
HUNDREDS TURNED AWAY FROM SHEPPARTON