Coronavirus: Austin Health disease specialist Patrick Charles on local case explosion
Austin Health’s director of infectious diseases has revealed why Banyule’s number of coronavirus cases has more than doubled in just five days.
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The mid-sized municipality of Banyule had recorded 53 positive tests as of April 2, making it the second worst local government area for infections in the state.
And a cluster of social events where the same infected guests have attended, have been blamed for Banyule’s dramatic rise in coronavirus cases.
That number was more than double recorded cases just five days earlier.
>> Do you know more about the events? Email richard.pearce@news.com.au
Austin Health director of infectious diseases Patrick Charles said the city was disproportionately represented because of some infectious social gatherings.
“There have been a few notable incidents where there have been gatherings of people which have led to quite a number of secondary cases,” he said.
“One person infects roughly three others … and we’ve had a couple of incidents where a few individual cases have passed on to much more than that.”
Mr Charles said the gatherings were about two weeks ago, and because the incubation period can be up to 14 days it was likely the rate of new confirmed cases would slow.
The social events were held before the State Government’s restrictions were in place.
The cause of the Banyule cluster also dispels a myth doing the rounds on social media that the area’s numbers were skewed by Austin Health, which runs a testing clinic, and situated in Heidelberg.
Infection cases by municipality are based on patient addresses, not test locations.
Mr Charles thanked the community for their efforts in isolation and assured the public this situation would pass.
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“We really appreciate people making the effort to stay home and keep themselves socially distant and anyone who’s sick to keep in isolation,” he said.
“The more we can hold the numbers at bay the better we can look after people.”
Mr Charles said people should continue avoiding others when practical and always assume the virus is on your hands before touching food, objects or your face.
If anyone is worried they might be experiencing the symptoms of coronavirus Austin Health has an online screening tool found here.
It will help determine if anyone is required to go to the hospital screening clinic.