Source of latest Victorian COVID case confirmed as QR fail hampers contact tracing
Authorities are scrambling to contract trace returned travellers who entered Victoria amid fears they were exposed to COVID in an Adelaide quarantine hotel.
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Six more Victorians may have been exposed to the virus, after quarantining at the same Adelaide hotel where a Wollert man is thought to have contracted COVID.
The Department of Health revealed the six people recently left Level 3 of the Playford Hotel in South Australia during the potential transmission period.
All six have been contacted and are now undertaking 14 days quarantine since their departure from the Adelaide hotel. They are all undergoing urgent testing today.
It comes as businesses intentionally flouting COVID rules — including enforcing QR code systems — will be slapped with a new $1652 on-the-spot fine, amid growing complacency fears.
37 per cent of businesses visited by the state government as part of a three-week COVIDSafe blitz during April were found to be non-compliant.
More than 165 enforcement notices and 300 verbal warnings were issued during the blitz, which saw more than 4000 hospitality and retail businesses targeted by authorities.
The state government revealed the most common issues included failure to use QR codes, no COVIDSafe plans and no density quotient signage.
All businesses have now been put on notice, as the state government warns authorised officers will be out in force throughout May and June.
The new $1652 fine will give authorised officers the power to issue an immediate penalty and an improvement notice, which triggers a follow up visit.
Those who commit repeated breaches face a further $9913 fine, and businesses could be prosecuted in court for continued, blatant or wilful noncompliance.
Acting Police and Emergency Services Minister Danny Pearson said the new fine sent a “clear message” to businesses that breaches wouldn’t be tolerated.
“As we’ve seen this week, it’s essential every Victorian checks in when visiting a business, to help contact tracers quickly find those who could be at risk of coronavirus exposure,” Mr Pearson said.
“While most businesses are doing the right thing, those who aren’t are letting down every Victorian who has sacrificed to get us where we are today.”
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said the state government should “park the fine” and instead ensure adequate communication with businesses.
“Businesses have suffered enough these past 14 months and should not have to bear the brunt of individuals doing the wrong thing,” he said.
“Just check in. Businesses should make it easy to do it, but beyond that it’s up to the individual. Let businesses do their jobs, they’re not enforcement officers. It’s a shared responsibility.
“It’s time to pitch in together to ensure our COVID-19 recovery continues at speed.”
More than 91,000 Victorian organisations have signed up for the free Victorian Government QR Code Service across 125,000 different locations — with more than 21.5 million check-ins — an average of 280,000 a day.
NO NEW CASES AS QR CODE BLUNDER SLOWS TRACING
No new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Victoria on Thursday, following almost 22,000 tests on Wednesday.
There has been one new case identified in an overseas traveller who is currently in hotel quarantine.
The 21,984 test results received on Wednesday came after a testing blitz in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
People in Epping and Altona North scrambled to get tested after a Wollert man tested positive after returning from India.
Genomic sequencing has confirmed a Victorian man caught coronavirus in a South Australian quarantine hotel, as the Andrews government again comes under fire for the slow rollout of a statewide QR code system.
The Department of Health was on Wednesday night probing more than 80 primary close contacts who may have come into contact with the COVID-infected man across four exposure sites.
Hundreds more footy fans were urged to get tested and immediately isolate after he caught a Craigieburn-bound train from Flinders Street Station on Friday at 10.20pm, coinciding with the end of the Richmond and Geelong blockbuster.
CCTV from Metro Trains was being used to determine patrons who shared a carriage with the man, while the AFL and clubs were contacting their members. The man’s household primary close contacts all returned negative results but remain in isolation.
More than half of all 115 identified primary close contacts have since returned a negative COVID test.
Acting Premier James Merlino confirmed on Thursday that 67 people hadn’t contracted the virus after coming into contact with a Wollert man who caught COVID in South Australian hotel quarantine.
He said the remaining 48 people were expected to receive their results within the next 24 to 36 hours.
All close contacts remain in isolation.
Mr Merlino said early signs out of the COVID scare were “pretty positive”.
“It’s positive so far,” he said.
Meanwhile, SA’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said people who were on level three of the hotel during the “period of concern” and who have subsequently been discharged will be required to quarantine another 14 days.
Professor Spurrier said the “vast majority of medi-hotel staff who were working at the time had their required daily testing”, but five employees were still being followed up.
Twenty-eight patrons and staff at the Curry Vault CBD restaurant, 17 people who attended the Pact Altona North exposure site, eight people who visited the Indiagate shop at Epping, and 28 shoppers at the Epping Woolworths have been identified as primary close contacts of the man.
Of those 81 people, 41 had returned a negative test, as of Wednesday afternoon.
Contact tracers were still scrambling to ensure they had identified every close contact, after Health Minister Martin Foley confirmed the Curry Vault restaurant hadn’t been actively enforcing QR code check-ins.
But the owner of the Curry Vault Indian Restaurant and Bar, Kailash Sharma, told the Herald Sun he had numerous working check-in systems at his venue.
“We request every customer to sign in,” he said.
“I don’t know why people don’t check in, it’s easier for everybody if something unwanted like this happens.”
The failure of the system has renewed pressure on the Andrews government over the delay in making a single QR code check-in system mandatory for all businesses.
Venues or businesses can use any system, before the government’s Service Vic program becomes mandatory from May 28. NSW made its QR system mandatory for all hospitality venues and hairdressers on January 1.
Opposition spokesman David Davis said: “The state government can’t just point the finger at restaurants or even the community. The confusion and chaos that’s been part of this has added to the issues.”
Neither Mr Foley nor the Department of Health would confirm whether the restaurant or Mr Sharma would be fined over alleged breaches.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said code compliance was a “joint effort”.
“It’s not about naming and shaming, it’s about both businesses and customers doing the right thing and taking responsibility.”
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