Chadstone Box Hill Central, The Glen coronavirus cases not posted on social media
Chadstone, The Glen and Box Hill Central have had several confirmed virus cases, but the shopping centres never alerted shoppers on social media. We asked them why.
East
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Questions have been asked about why major shopping centres in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs are no longer posting about confirmed coronavirus cases in staff members at its stores on social media.
Leader has been contacted by a reader who said Vicinity Centres, which runs Chadstone, Box Hill Central and The Glen, was now only informing customers of cases through an update on a coronavirus section on its centres’ websites while Westfield, which looks after Doncaster and Knox shopping centres, was not posting anything online.
Although it did not share an update on its Facebook page, on the Box Hill Central website on Monday, Vicinity Centres said its team had been notified of a confirmed case of coronavirus in a staff member at the Home Ideas store.
It said staff at the store were working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and as a precautionary measure the store had been thoroughly cleaned and was closed with all staff members self-isolating until August 2.
Vicinity Centres also posted on its Chadstone website on Tuesday about two separate confirmed cases of coronavirus but did not post to Facebook.
In the website update it said the cases involved a staff member from David Jones who last worked in the store on July 13 and a staff member from Mad Man Barbershop who last worked in the store on July 17.
Both David Jones and Mad Man Barbershop have since carried out thorough sanitisation and are working closely with the DHHS.
A staff member from David Jones at The Glen who last worked on July 9 also tested positive for coronavirus with the store closing for “thorough sanitisation” before reopening.
There was also a confirmed case of coronavirus in a team member who worked at Le Crois bakery at The Glen, who last worked on July 8.
Again the news about those cases were shared on the centre’s website and not on The Glen’s Facebook page, although it did post about a case involving a confirmed case in a staff member who worked at The Asian Grocer on June 28.
A Vicinity Centres spokesperson said when it was informed that there was a confirmed case of COVID-19 in one of its centres it followed advice and protocols from relevant health authorities and the DHHS about what communications it needed to follow.
“With any confirmed cases we let our retailers know as soon as possible, we encourage the affected retailer to post signage outside their store to let customers know (otherwise we may do this for them), we update the relevant centre website and social as appropriate, and we also provide information to media,” the spokesperson said.
“Regarding this week’s three confirmed cases at Chadstone and Box Hill, we have no indication from DHHS that there was any risk to our customers or retail team members who visited these centres, but we have posted on our centre websites, and let our retailers know.
“We recognise that our communities receive their information through a number of channels and we have and are committed to continuing to provide information about any confirmed cases in our centres, as appropriate.”
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said there were strict procedures in place to protect the public wherever someone tests positive to coronavirus and it responds on a case-by-case basis.
“As part of our contact tracing, relevant public exposure sites are contacted and provided with advice about the transmission risks and any cleaning that may be required,” the spokesperson said.
“The public health team work closely with individual businesses after a case has been notified at their premises and if there is a public health risk the community will be notified.”
All retailers must ensure customers can maintain physical distancing of at least 1.5m between people at all times and must limit the number of people on their premises in line with density requirements of one person per four square metres.
With masks now compulsory in Melbourne, any customer to a Vicinity Centre who refuses to wear a mask other than for a reason approved by the Government, will be asked to buy and wear one as soon as possible.
If they refuse, they will be asked to leave the centre.
Any further enforcement action will be a matter for police.
Westfield has been contacted for comment.
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