Southbank housing complex in lockdown as two new resident cases recorded
Healthcare workers have swarmed a Southbank housing complex after it was placed in lockdown as two further coronavirus infections were discovered among its residents.
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Two more cases of coronavirus have been linked to a Southbank housing complex.
The infections were discovered after more than 200 people were tested at a pop-up centre at the complex on Monday.
Both cases will be counted in tomorrow’s numbers and are said to be known close contacts of the complex which was first identified after a man tested positive on Saturday.
Nurses swarmed to the townhouse complex after it was released anyone who visited the complex between June 2-14 to get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days.
Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar said the new classification to Tier 1 came after the cluster grew in the past 24 hours.
“We have decided to expand the zone of primary close contacts from the 61 primary close contacts that we started with,” he said.
The new cases are adult males who live in separate apartments, adjacent to the four other positive cases identified at the complex.
Mr Weimar said it was believed the cases were connected to communal areas, which are “of concern” to authorities.
“We’ve progressively stepped up our public health measures to really deal with any residual infections that we may see in that area,” he said.
Across Victoria, Mr Weimar said more than 7000 primary close contacts had so far been cleared.
There is currently around 1600 primary close contacts across all outbreaks.
It comes as the federal government is sending an extra 50,000 Pfizer doses to Victoria, on top of a 100,000-dose boost already planned for this month.
It means that state-run facilities will receive 105,330 Pfizer doses this week, 104,130 doses next week, and then 133,380 doses in the week of June 28.
Federal government sources maintain supply is not the primary issue for Victoria’s vaccination rollout, and that the state government needs to match the booking system of other states to provide certainty about the timing of second dose appointments.
The move comes after Victorians seeking their first Pfizer shot were being turned away and warned they might not get vaccinated for up to a month.
Meanwhile, testing numbers dropped to 15,067 on Monday and three cases were recorded in hotel quarantine.
Ten infections have also been shed from the state’s active caseload, which is now 54 — down from 64 on Monday.
The Herald Sun has seen a leaked call centre script advising operators fielding booking inquiries to tell those wanting their first dose of Pfizer to ring back at the end of the week.
And callers trying to book their second Pfizer vaccination have been told to phone back in a couple of weeks.
Walk-ins at the state’s mass vaccination centres have also been suspended for the Pfizer version as stocks become stretched.
Some people being turned away on Monday say they were told vaccinations might not resume for a month.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt urged Victoria to follow the lead of other states and fix its booking system so Pfizer recipients could lock in appointments for both doses at the same time.
Mr Hunt said Victoria had received 1.134 million doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and had administered 797,000 doses so far.
But state Health Minister Martin Foley said 50,000 first-time Pfizer bookings were already in place for this week and all further supplies were needed to ensure those requiring a second dose would get it.
“Victoria will distribute whatever it’s provided in terms of vaccination,” he said.
“The truth is we are operating under the constraints of what we are being provided.”
Healthcare worker Aaron Campbell, 21, among those refused the shot at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday, was told by staff the vaccine was “at least another month away”.
“I went in wanting to get the Pfizer vaccine as that’s what I am eligible for but I was turned away at the door,’’ Mr Campbell said.
Simon Inglis, 42, was also refused the Pfizer jab – setting back plans to visit family in New Zealand. He was also told by security guards that there was “no Pfizer in stock”.
Mr Hunt said Victoria had a “significant volume of Pfizer” and the state had to “manage the doses within their total inventory”.
Victoria had received an extra half a million doses so far, compared with the state’s initial allocation in the rollout, with the state-run hubs to receive an additional 100,000 Pfizer doses over the next three weeks as a result of the latest Covid-19 outbreak.
A Victorian health department spokeswoman said state-run centres last week administered more than 92,000 first and second Pfizer doses.
“We have seen record demand over the last three weeks for Pfizer,” she said.
“We must ensure we have the supply from the commonwealth to be able to deliver second doses to tens of thousands of eligible Victorians who received their first dose.”
In limited circumstances, vaccination centres may accept people unable to book who walk up for their second Pfizer vaccination.
Residents at a Southbank block of flats have been urged to get tested and isolate after the area emerged as the potential source of a mystery coronavirus case.
It comes as two new cases of local transmission were announced, with both linked to existing outbreaks.
Health Minister Martin Foley on Monday revealed public health officials had found a possible connection between the Arcare Maidstone cluster and an unlinked case discovered on Saturday.
The latest case lived in the same complex as an aged care worker who tested positive, and authorities probing whether shared facilities may have led to the infection.
Nurses have been doorknocking residents at Kings Park apartments on Wells St asking them to get tested at a pop-up clinic outside and isolate until they receive a negative result.
A smaller group of people who may have also used the shared facilities will be required to quarantine for 14 days.
The latest locally acquired cases are two children who are primary close contacts of existing infections and there was no community exposure.
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