Nursing home in lockdown after staffer tests positive as new coronavirus cases spike to 17
Two staff members at Victorian aged care homes have tested positive for coronavirus and all employees and residents are now undergoing testing. It follows the state’s unexpected glimmer of hope amid a fresh spike in cases.
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Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has confirmed two staff members at aged care facilities have tested positive to COVID-19.
All residents at Grant Lodge nursing home in Bacchus Marsh are being tested and their families informed after a worker was diagnosed during the government’s testing blitz.
Another worker, a close contact to the Cedar Meats outbreak, at Doutta Galla Aged Services in Footscray also tested positive.
“Again the testing of residents and staff is being undertaken,” Ms Mikakos said.
“Our situation in Victoria is different to that that exists in other states and territories.”
In a statement, Djerriwarrh Health Services which manages Grant Lodge confirmed a staff member was positive for coronavirus despite not having any classic symptoms of COVID-19 when tested on Saturday as part of Victoria’s ongoing screening program.
The nursing home has now been locked down while Department of Health contact tracing investigators try to identify the sources of the transmission.
“The staff member has been isolating at home since being tested, and remains asymptomatic,” the Djerriwarrh Health Services statement said.
“All Grant Lodge staff members who have interacted with the infected staff member are being tested, and sent home for isolation, and the lodge is in lockdown.
“Grant Lodge has undergone a complete and thorough cleaning process, and we are currently working through staffing details to ensure residents are being cared for.”
Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital, which is also operated by Djerriwarrh Health Services, continues to operate in line with COVID-19 protocols.
Meanwhile a statement from Doutta Galla Aged Services said: “A staff member at Footscray Aged Care Home has tested positive to COVID-19 (coronavirus).
“The staff member has no symptoms, they are now in isolation in their home.
“The staff member last worked at the home on Sunday 26 April 2020 and has not worked since that date.
“There is not an outbreak nor a COVID-19 cluster and no resident or staff are showing
signs of infection.
“As a precaution, Doutta Galla Aged Services has already activated its emergency
response, including notifying the relevant state and federal government authorities and
has commenced testing staff and residents.
“The Commonwealth Department of Health and the Victorian Department of Health and
Human Services have been notified and we are working closely with authorities to ensure the ongoing health and safety of residents, staff and others.
“The home is now closed to all visitation until at least 11 May 2020.
“We continue to practise enhanced infection control and cleaning protocols. In addition to
the extra cleaning we had already implemented some weeks ago, a daily deep and detailed clean of the whole facility.
“Additional staff have been brought in to support the home as we continue to provide the highest standard of care and support to our residents.
“Our staff have been briefed and are committed to the ongoing care and support of
our residents.
— Kieran Rooney and Grant McArthur
REVELLERS NABBED AS MEATWORKS CLUSTER WORSENS
Partygoers who had previously been nabbed for skirting lockdown restrictions are among the latest Victorians hit with fines for breaching stay-at-home orders.
Thirty-three people across the state were slapped with fines for breaching restrictions in the past 24 hours.
Among those fined were four men believed to be taking drugs together in a car.
Police also busted up numerous gatherings at homes, including to people who received previous warnings.
The penalties come as Victoria’s relatively low rate of community transmission has provided an unexpected glimmer of hope as the state deals with a spike in new cases.
In total, just 145 of the state’s 1440 COVID-19 cases are believed to have been contracted through an unknown source.
The past 24 hours has seen just two of the 17 fresh diagnoses were transmitted within the community.
It follows a reminder that the threat of coronavirus is far from over in Victoria, with an additional 17 cases overnight including four more infections linked to the abattoir cluster in Melbourne’s west.
For the second day in a row, the state’s coronavirus tally has had a double digit rise in cases prompting warnings to not be complacent.
It comes as the government has continued to defend its contact tracing methods, with 49 cases now linked to the Cedar Meats in Brooklyn.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said she had been briefed on the timeline of how the department had responded to the confirmed case linked to Cedar Meats on April 2.
“I am satisfied that everything in relation to this outbreak has been done appropriately,” she said.
Ms Mikakos disagreed with statements that the outbreak was the Victorian Government’s “Ruby Princess moment”.
“I don’t accept that comparison for a moment,” she said.
“If the Ruby Princess had docked in Melbourne at the time it docked in Sydney, things would have been very different.”
Ms Mikakos said the outbreak had been handled “absolutely perfectly”.
“There has been no breakdown at all,” she said.
“I am absolutely confident they have done everything possible to contain this outbreak.
“I agree with (Chief Medical Officer) Professor Brendan Murphy that it was expertly controlled.”
She said the April 2 infection may be unrelated to later cases because the worker had advised they had not been to the meat works.
“We have to take them on their face value,” Ms Mikakos said.
“Unless the virus got into a car itself and went to Cedar Meats there is no way that virus could have been connected to that worksite.”
It comes as Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton defended missing the spread at Cedar Meats abattoir early on, saying the cluster was not identified until late April.
“I have been told that the early case wasn’t part of that cluster,” Mr Sutton told 3AW.
“We acted on a cluster that was identified in late April because really those were the cases that were onsite and that’s where the transmission was expected to have occurred.
“We were investigating a case in early April but we were told he (the patient) wasn’t onsite at any point that was relevant.”
Mr Sutton said contact tracing had worked once the cluster was identified and said it was entirely possible another employee had the virus but had mild symptoms allowing the spread.
Despite the increase in cases in recent days, Mr Sutton said he was still positive about restrictions easing in the coming weeks.
The fresh spike raises the state’s total to 1440 with the remaining new cases including seven from returned overseas travellers.
More than 10,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted yesterday, bringing Victoria’s testing total to 162,000.
“Many more samples form our drive through and shopping centre tests still being processed,” according to Treasurer Tim Pallas.
It comes as the state government has moved to support 3000 casual public sector workers who have been laid off during the pandemic, but do not qualify for the Federal Government’s JobKeeper program.
Payments will be $1500 a fortnight and apply from April 27 to September 30.
Workers include pool lifeguards, tickets staff at the Melbourne Museum and park attendants at the Royal Botanic Gardens and do not have to be Australian citizens.
“This will help people who have fallen through the cracks,” Mr Pallas said.
However, the program would not include council staff stood down with Mr Pallas saying “everyone has to do their part”.
“I’m making it clear the state has no intention to provide support for councils.”
Mr Pallas ruled out any financial assistance to local government and said councils would need to get their revenue from ratepayers or the Federal Government.
“We are all in this together, but that does not mean one particular level of government has to bear the weight,” he said.
– Alex White
FOOTSCRAY NURSING HOME CASE LINKED TO CEDAR MEATS OUTBREAK
A worker from a Footscray nursing home has tested positive to coronavirus in the latest link to the expanding outbreak at Cedar Meats.
The Herald Sun understands the nursing home worker is the partner of a Cedar Meats employee, who had been one of the 49 cases confirmed at the Brooklyn abattoir.
The nursing home has been contacted for comment.
It comes as Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has slammed Premier Daniel Andrews after four more cases of the Cedar Meats outbreak were confirmed this morning, saying the government “had dropped the ball” on contact tracing.
“This is Daniel Andrews’ own Ruby Princess,” he said.
“The CHO is claiming the man was not at work when he was infected but there are reports otherwise. The government has dropped the ball on this.”
It comes as an investigation is underway to probe if federal Department of Agriculture officials could have spread the coronavirus between abattoirs after they inspected the Cedar Meats facility in Melbourne.
READ THE FULL VERSION OF THIS REPORT, HERE
PM SAYS NOT REOPENING SCHOOLS IS COSTING JOBS
More than 300,000 Australians have been unable to work because they are caring for their children while they learn remotely during the pandemic.
Alarming Treasury data also links school closures to a 3 per cent drop in economic activity — the same as the impact of social distancing rules preventing gatherings — shutting some businesses and restricting travel.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison seized on the figures on Tuesday to renew his case for schools to return to normal classroom learning as Victoria lags behind the other states.
“Not opening schools fully is costing jobs and it does cost the economy. They’re the facts,” Mr Morrison said.
He said it was up to Premier Daniel Andrews to decide when to phase out remote learning in Victoria. It is due to continue for all of Term 2.
“Other premiers are making different decisions like in Queensland, NSW, South Australia, the Northern Territory and in Western Australia, and I think they’re making good calls,” Mr Morrison said.
The Treasury analysis, considered by the National Cabinet on Tuesday, revealed that as a result of the crisis about 1.5 million people would not be working in the first six months of the year, including 355,900 Victorians.
It identified an overall 11 per cent fall in economic activity, 4 per cent of which was due to declining domestic demand and 1 per cent because of a lack of demand for exports.
Separate research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows Victoria has been hardest hit by the economic crash, with an 8.6 per cent drop in jobs from March 14 to April 18.
Further data to be released on Wednesday shows almost 730,000 businesses have enrolled for the government’s JobKeeper program, which will subsidise the wages of 4.7 million workers.
Of those, almost 200,000 businesses are based in Victoria, including 26,535 construction companies, 13,811 retail businesses, 14,464 accommodation and food services companies, and 30,419 businesses providing professional, scientific and technical services.
Nationwide 949 businesses employing more than 500 people will be receiving the $1500 subsidies for their staff from this week, along with 222,680 sole traders, and 396,241 businesses with one to four staff.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the six-month scheme would give working Australians “their best chance of keeping their job and keeping them connected to their employers so business can bounce back in the recovery phase”.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern dialled in to Tuesday’s National Cabinet meeting, with both countries confident a safe travel zone can be set up in coming months.
Ms Ardern said 14-day quarantine rules would not be enforced when the “travel bubble” was ticked off.
SAFE RETURN TO WORK THE NEXT JOB
Moving desks to keep workers 1.5 metres apart, staggering meal breaks and providing hand sanitiser are part of a new blueprint to help businesses reopen in a COVID-safe way.
Safe Work Australia has released 1300 pages of guidelines for employers and employees across 23 industries. Other key tips include daily cleaning of shared spaces, limiting the number of people in lifts and even temperature testing.
Where possible, workplaces should keep staff 1.5 metres apart and ensure one person per four square metres, with floor or wall markings suggested to show correct spacing.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the toolkit, unveiled after Tuesday’s National Cabinet, was designed to give businesses the confidence to reopen “as quickly as possible”.
“We now need to get one million Australians back to work,” he said. “That is the curve we need to address.”
Developing their emergency plans was a key step businesses needed to take, Mr Morrison said, as he acknowledged virus outbreaks would likely occur once restrictions start to be relaxed from Friday.
“When we ease these restrictions, you will see numbers increase in some areas, you will see outbreaks occur in other places,” he said.
“The last thing that businesses want … is called the sawtooth, which means you are open, you shut, you open, you shut.
“That is not good for business. There needs to be the certainty to keep moving forward all the time. So to have that, you need to have these things in place.”
By Tuesday night almost five million people had signed up for the government’s COVIDSafe tracing app.
Mr Morrison urged more to download it to enable restrictions to be eased.
Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said the workplace guidelines were part of a national effort to “keep Australians safe over the next two to three to four months whilst safely relaxing restrictions”.
In an effort to reduce crowds, the Safe Work guidelines recommend public transport operators limit passengers on trains, trams and buses, and even allocate seats to keep people 1.5 metres apart.
The advice also suggests different doors should be used to separate commuters entering and exiting a service.
Prof Murphy said authorities did not want crowding on public transport or in lifts at the beginning and end of the day.
He urged employees and employers to co-operate to make their workplaces safer.
“We want staff to have a responsibility for hygiene. Hand sanitiser everywhere. Everybody sanitising their hands. People not shaking their hands. People not crowding into a small room for a meeting … There is a range of general measures that are all about reducing your close contact with fellow human beings,” Prof Murphy said.
National COVID-19 co-ordination Commission chairman Neville Power said he had been meeting with hundreds of businesses, peak bodies and unions, designing the “complete toolkit” to enable work to safely start again.
“Some businesses are doing quite well and are ready … some are in the preparation stage, and some need a bit more help to get there,” Mr Power said. “The level of ingenuity and innovation we’ve seen has been fantastic.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also announced that company boards would be allowed to notify shareholders of AGMs via email and hold those meetings online for the next six months.
GOVERNMENT PUTS FREEZE ON FEES
Car regos, drivers’ licences and other state government fees will be frozen this year to help Victorian hip pockets during pandemic restrictions.
Treasurer Tim Pallas on Tuesday said the Andrews Government would forgo $491 million in revenue by freezing fee increases and providing tax breaks.
Businesses involved in the JobKeeper scheme will be exempt from payroll tax and WorkCover premiums to ensure there are no extra charges on the $1500 fortnightly payments.
“The last thing you want to do is to add pressures on people who are currently dealing with the difficulties associated with a pandemic event,” Mr Pallas said.
The Fire Services Property Levy will also be frozen.
The government will also provide an extra $17 million to support Victorians with disabilities.
Disability Minister Luke Donnellan said the cash would ensure the sector had enough resources to cope through the crisis.
The Andrews Government was to have handed down its Budget on May 5, but this has now been pushed back to late October.
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