Rolling coverage: Zero new coronavirus cases, virus detected in wastewater at Altona
Residents of five suburbs have been urged to get tested for coronavirus after fragments of the disease were found in wastewater.
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People in Altona and surrounding suburbs have been urged to get tested for COVID-19 after virus fragments were found in a wastewater sample.
“The result is unexpected given that it has been about eight weeks since the last known resident in the area had a coronavirus (COVID-19) illness or diagnosis,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement released on Friday evening.
Suburbs in the wastewater catchment include Altona, Altona Meadows, Laverton, Point Cook and Sanctuary Lakes.
Anyone who lives in or visited the Altona area from Monday 16 to Wednesday 18 November should get tested if they have any symptoms, “no matter how mild”.
The plea comes after coronavirus fragments were found in a wastewater sample collected from the Altona sewage catchment on Wednesday 18 November.
TESTING LOCATIONS:
DRIVE THROUGH testing facility at Wyndham City Council Civic Centre Outdoor Carpark, 45 Princes Highway, Werribee, from Mon to Sun - 9am-5pm.
WALK THROUGH testing centre Werribee South Foreshore Reserve, Werribee South Foreshore Reserve, Beach Road (opposite Werribee Coast Guard, near corner O’Connors Road), from Saturday 21 to Sunday 22 November - 9am-4pm
WALK THROUGH testing centre Tarneit Community and Learning Centre, 150 Sunset Views Boulevard, Tarneit from Saturday 21 to Sunday 29 November - 9am-4pm
DRIVE THROUGH testing facility IPC Health - Wootten Road Reserve, Wootten Road Reserve, 25-51 Wootten Road, Tarneit, from Saturday to Sunday - 10am-4pm
For a full list of testing sites, visit the DHHS website.
21 DAYS OF ZERO CASES, DEATHS
Victoria has recorded zero new coronavirus cases or deaths for the 21st day in a row.
More than 18,000 Victorians were tested in the past 24 hours and the state now has just two active cases.
Late on Thursday, the DHHS was notified of a weak positive test result for a woman in her 80s. The department said the result was most likely a false positive or reflected a historic infection and on Friday it was being reviewed by the Expert Review Panel, while precautionary public health actions were in place.
It comes as the state snapped shut its border with South Australia to keep COVID-19 from creeping across the state line, after the “concerning” discovery of virus fragments in waste water in two regional cities.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced the “hard border” closure on Thursday saying it was the first time the state had taken such a step “in my public life”.
It came after authorities plunged South Australia into a six-day lockdown to snuff out a growing COVID-19 cluster, and sewage revealed “coronavirus fragments” had been detected in Portland and Benalla.
Both Victorian towns are on major freight routes, and the results could be an indication of community infections or a traveller shedding the virus.
But Mr Andrews warned similar waste water results had been detected in Kilmore and Shepparton before outbreaks in those towns.
“With community transmission clearly happening in South Australia and in light of the waste water results along freight routes in Victoria, the government is following the public health advice and has made the difficult decisions to introduce temporary border controls with South Australia,” he said.
“There’s simply no way that we can have people who ought not be leaving their home in SA doing so and then travelling to our state, not at this time.”
Anyone in Shepparton and Benalla with symptoms was urged to get tested immediately.
Only freight drivers and those with medical, emergency or urgent animal welfare issues can cross the border until a permit scheme is introduced on Sunday.
Then emergency service, essential and agricultural workers can also cross the border, along with people shopping for essential supplies.
Up to 300 Victoria Police officers were manning roadblocks along the border from Mildura to Portland.
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS TO LAND IN VICTORIA AGAIN
Victoria will start receiving international flights again from December 7, but just 160 incoming passengers will be allowed in a day.
A state government spokesman said on Friday that Victoria had asked the Commonwealth for a short extension of the suspension of international flights landing in Melbourne from 22 November to 6 December.
Victoria would commence receiving passengers from December 7 and has requested the initial cap which may be revised.
The extension on the flight ban was requested to allow the final preparations for Victoria’s reset quarantine accommodation program for returned travellers to take place.
“The government will release further details about the program and our response to the interim report of the Hotel Quarantine Inquiry soon,” the spokeswoman said.
Victoria stopped all incoming international flights in July after serious failings in the hotel quarantine program linked it to the state’s deadly second wave.
Daniel Andrews has repeatedly said he would not allow flights to return until after the Hotel Quarantine Inquiry delivered its report into the scheme.
An interim report is currently being considered by the government.
The inquiry is due to hand down its final report by December 6.
BORDER COMMUNITIES FURIOUS AT CLOSURES
As Victoria recorded its 20th consecutive day without a new cases, South Australian authorities reported no new infections but fear 17 suspected cases will see the cluster — already at 23 cases — grow.
The sudden border closure will impact thousands of people living in nearby communities.
Andrea Winfield and Paul Singleton, who live in South Australian but own the Nelson Kiosk and Post Office in Victoria, packed their bags and moved on Thursday night.
They also had to move from their home “last time around, when South Australia locked Victorians out”.
“Now Victoria is locking South Australia out, so we’re going to have to move again. I just can’t fathom it,” a frustrated Ms Winfield said.
“I don’t know where they plan on setting up the border control this time, whether it’s in Portland or on the actual border, so two sets of coppers can wave and kick a footy to each other?”
Ms Winfield said they were lucky to have a house in Nelson they could use when the hard border came into effect, but with almost all the supplies for the business coming from Mount Gambier in South Australia, there were plenty of headaches ahead.
“I probably won’t be able to get newspapers tomorrow, or even bread and milk … all our suppliers are going to have to get permits to come into Victoria,” she said.
For Cape Bridgewater mum of two Jemma Dillon, who runs an osteopathy clinic with her partner Vince Muscat in Mount Gambier, it’s also the second time the family’s lives have been turned upside down, in a matter of months.
But the mother of toddler Maggie and baby Mick said despite the inconvenience of living in one state and working in another when COVID outbreaks occurred, the family wouldn’t live anywhere else.
“In this part of the world we’ve been impacted by the border closures both ways … but if this year has taught us anything, it’s how lucky we are to live regionally and that it was definitely the right thing to move out of Melbourne a few years ago, even though it’s been a tough year for us financially,” Ms Dillon said.
“If you’re going to be hit, it’s better to be hit out here, in one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.”
Truck drivers passing through Nhill on Thursday were more than happy to be tested, with about 60 people tested between midday and 4pm.
CEVA Logistics driver Andrew Millott said it should have been implemented at the start of the pandemic.
“I believe everybody coming out of South Australia should be tested, the entire community Australia wide should be tested at least once a week,” he said.
Collins Adelaide truck driver Peter Hart said he would have to carry his testing certificate as proof to show to authorities.
“The good thing about getting tested all the time, is we know we haven’t got the disease,” he said.
“I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Mahesh Koli, owner of Nhill Dine Inn, said he was “disappointed” with the border closure and didn’t know how he would supply his business while cut off from South Australia’s Bordertown.
He said traffic through the town contributed about $15,000 to $20,000 a month to his business.
“We’re not sure if we’re going to get meat or not,” he said.
“We’re breaking even, but we’re not making money.”
Gallery Central president Jeanette McLeod estimated Nhill had lost about 50 to 75 per cent in revenue going to businesses.
“It makes a huge difference to the town as a whole,” she said.
“With no traffic coming through, locals can’t buy everything we’re not a big town.
“It’s a hard slog … it affects everyone.”
Ms McLeod said she was also unsure if she could make her dentist appointment, located on the other side of the border.
Resident Lynne Coughlan said families were devastated at the continued separation, with her own daughters, like many from Nhill, working or studying in Adelaide.
She said families were recently able to meet briefly in border towns within the 70km bubble, but now that too would be taken away.
And Victorian farmers fear they will now struggle to work across state lines during harvest.
Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke: “Over the next 48 hours it’s critical agriculture is allowed to continue moving produce, equipment and machinery across state lines … especially during busy harvest season.”
Nationals Leader Peter Walsh said “every second counts” during harvest, calling on the government to implement a permit system “streamlined with South Australia to make sure border community residents aren’t bearing an unworkable burden as they go about their daily lives.”
Speaking before the closure was announced, Scott Morrison said on Thursday that there were “no hard and fast rules” on borders.
“All the states and territories, all the way through this, they’re responsible for public health in their states,” the Prime Minister said.
“As a result, they will make their own decisions.
“South Australia has dealt with its own border issue by treating itself as a hotspot and cutting itself off for a few days.”
NO SECOND JOB FOR QUARANTINE WORKERS
Workers in Victoria’s future hotel quarantine program will not be allowed to have a second job in a bid to minimise the risk of the virus escaping.
Daniel Andrews revealed on Thursday “everyone that works for the program will either work for the Victorian government or exclusively for the government”.
“We will also advance contact trace every single person who works in this program,” the Premier said.
“For instance, we don’t want a situation where someone is sharing a house with an aged care worker.”
It comes after the Victorian hotel inquiry heard multiple security guards had a second job, including as Uber drivers, before the virus escaped causing the devastating second wave.
Inquiry chair Jennifer Coate handed down a report earlier this month with 69 recommendations, which included limiting secondary employment of hotel staff.
The state government is yet to announce when the state will again start accepting return travellers.
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