‘Challenge our supply’: Ballarat health boss pushes jabs

A covid case in regional Victoria has been declared a likely false positive, health authorities have confirmed.

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Ballarat’s covid case has been declared a likely false positive, health authorities have confirmed.

Ballarat Health Services head of infectious diseases Raquel Cowan said a returned overseas traveller tested positive to the virus on Tuesday night.

But Dr Cowan said the test was a “weak positive” and had been sent to Melbourne for further confirmation.

Still, Ballarat health authorities are not leaving anything to chance.

Dr Cowan said the patient, whose age and gender were not disclosed, was quarantining at home while their close contacts have also been forced into isolation.

Ballarat Health Services chief executive Dale Fraser said it was a “timely reminder” for resident to be vigilant and get vaccinated given the growing Melbourne cluster.

Mr Fraser said more than 20,000 Grampians region residents had been vaccinated, but even at the peak of its demand the vaccine centre was still running at half capacity.

He said there was a surge in vaccine demand on Wednesday, with a record-setting 693 people getting their jab in Ballarat.

Mr Fraser said this was a fraction of the 1200 vaccine per day capacity for the service.

“Come on in droves and challenge our supply,” the health official said.

“If demand steps up we can go back and ask for more.

“20,000 vaccination is still not enough … we would encourage everyone to get vaccinated.”

Bendigo declared hotspot as states shut borders

Bendigo has been declared a hotspot by Northern Territory officials as states start to shut their borders against the latest Melbourne cluster.

NT chief health officer Charles Pain declared Greater Melbourne and Bendigo local government areas hotspots as Victorian contact tracers race to contain the outbreak, with 11 new Covid cases overnight.

“We are going hard and wide early to declare Greater Melbourne and Bendigo Local Government Areas as hotspots,” Dr Pain said.

Dr Pain said effective immediately anyone travelling to the NT from a hotspot must undertake 14 days of mandatory, supervised quarantine at the Alice Springs or Howard Springs quarantine facilities.

The hotspot announcement was in reaction to three exposure sites being declared across Central Victoria, in Bendigo, Axedale and Cohuna.

A Central Victorian footy club, Bendigo hairdresser and an Axedale pub were identified as exposure sites connected to the Melbourne cluster.

The Cohuna Kangas Football Netball Club closed its doors after a covid positive case attended its football grounds on the weekend.

The club said the covid patient was an attendee at the Saturday football and netball match between Cohuna and Tooleybuc Manangatang at the Cohuna Football Oval, 124km north of Bendigo.

The Department of Health said the covid-positive case watched multiple netball games, visited the canteen and used outdoor public toilets between 12pm and 5pm.

The Cohuna club has been classed as a tier 2 exposure site, meaning anyone who has visited during those times should urgently get tested and isolate until they return a negative result.

As a result, the club will be closed until further notice and will be deep cleaned.

Two other Central Victorian businesses, a Bendigo region hairdresser and a bar, have been identified as potential covid-19 exposure sites linked to the Melbourne cluster.

More than 20 exposure sites, including two in Bendigo, were identified on Tuesday night as new restrictions were enforced in Melbourne.

Victoria Health said a covid-positive case visited Hairfolk on Williamson St, Bendigo on Saturday May 22 between 9.40am and 10.10am.

The business is now classed as a tier 2 exposure site, meaning anyone who has visited during those times should urgently get tested and isolate until they return a negative result.

The positive case also attended a function at the Axedale Tavern on Sunday May 23 between 11.45am and 1.30pm.

The Axedale Tavern is listed as tier 1. Anyone who has visited this site during the exposure times must immediately isolate, get tested, and quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure.

Hairfolk Bendigo said all clients had been contacted and staff were waiting for their results.

“A client came into the salon for less than two minutes to purchase product, who has now tested positive to Covid,” the salon wrote on Facebook.

“We have contacted all necessary clients who were in the salon at the same time.

“The salon will remain closed until all staff tests come back negative and we are given the all clear.”

Bendigo Health will stay open until 6.30pm in response to a surge in demand for its testing clinics.

“There are large queues for drive-through and walk-in testing,” the health service posted to Facebook.

“We thank people for coming forward to be tested and have a large team of staff working to test people.”

Covid-19 tests are also available at Bendigo Respiratory Clinic at Spring Gully, Melbourne Pathology at Bendigo, ACL at Strathfieldsaye, Inglewood and Districts Health Service, Castlemaine Health, Kyneton Health, Echuca Regional Health and Boort District Health.

We are currently experiencing long wait times at our COVID-19 Screening Clinic on Stewart Street. There are large queues...

Posted by Bendigo Health on Tuesday, May 25, 2021

The growing list of exposure sites now includes the MCG, which has become a virus flashpoint.

A COVID-19 positive case attended the Collingwood and Port Adelaide clash on Sunday, May 23.

Fans seated in Zone 4, Level 1, of the Great Southern Stand must get tested and isolate until they return a negative result.

The health department said it would watch CCTV to further determine exposure sites at the ground, which hosted about 23,000 spectators.

Contact tracers are also desperately hunting down a mystery link to the growing outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs that has the state on high alert.

The state government ­announced private home gatherings would be reduced to just five visitors a day, while public gatherings will be slashed to 30 people.

A snap lockdown has not been ruled out.

“This is a responsible step that we need to take to get on top of this outbreak … It’s about giving our contact tracers the time they need to track this matter down and get on top of it,” Acting Premier James Merlino said.

Health officials are particularly alarmed because the virus circulating in the cluster is the Indian variant.

“It’s by no means one to be complacent about … It is at least as infectious as the so-called UK variant,” Chief health officer Brett Sutton said.

“It’s been called the double-mutant variant, in fact it’s got 15 mutations, two of which are a concern that relate to transmissibility.”

The Department of Health on Tuesday evening revealed 168 primary close contacts ­related to exposure sites had been identified.

Professor Sutton defended the latest contact tracing bungle, citing there was “no evidence” linking the latest mistake to the fresh outbreak.

The Victorian government was forced to admit its contact tracing team “fell down” again after it took almost two weeks to realise they had the wrong Woolworths store.

The health department originally listed Woolworths Epping as an exposure site after a Victorian man returned from hotel quarantine in South Australia and tested positive.

More to come.