Shepparton outbreak: 24 new Covid cases recorded

Three Shepparton bars are now at the centre of the town’s latest Covid outbreak after they were listed as tier one exposure sites.

Greater Shepparton has recorded a jump in Covid cases just a day after three bars were listed as exposure sites.

On Thursday, health authorities announced the region had recorded 24 new cases in the past 24 hours.

It comes after Shingo’s Lounge, The Deck and Wildlife Brewing Co were all listed as tier one exposure sites.

In a Facebook post, Wildlife Brewing said a positive case had attended the venue on Saturday between 4.30pm and 7pm.

“We run a tight ship, our staff are all double vaccinated, we follow the rules when it comes to how many people we allow in the venue, we ensure people check in via the QR code- and generally do all we can to ensure everyone feels safe and follows the rules,” the post said.

“What we can‘t control is if someone comes in who hasn’t been tested recently.”

The Deck said it was listed as a tier one exposure site after a positive case attended on Tuesday between 7pm and 11pm.

“This is an important notice to those who aren’t complying with the current rules and regulations, it’s tough, we know it’s tough (we’ve known this as we have had to shut our business regularly over the past 19 months) but acting in this way can put anyones business out of pocket not forgetting it’s workers who need money to put food on the table and feed their families,” a Facebook post said.

“It‘s truly heartbreaking for all of us.”

Shingo’s Lounge was attended by a positive case between 6.30pm and 11.10pm on Saturday, October 16.

How Shepparton became the centre of a Covid outbreak

On the night of August 12 Shepparton, a country town in the state’s northeast, was blissfully unaware what was around the corner.

Covid had been detected in the town’s wastewater for days but no one could have predicted the Goulburn Valley would become the hotspot that plunged regional Victoria back into lockdown.

On Friday morning, August 20, Shepparton had recorded its first Covid case in more than 300 days.

By Friday afternoon, 11 more were added to the tally.

By 8pm that skyrocketed to 17.

On Saturday afternoon, Goulburn Valley Health’s boss stood in front of media to officially place the community on high alert as another four were added — with more likely to come.

Alarmingly, he said most of those infected were children.

“We are working as hard as we can,” Mr Sharp said.

“(The number of people isolating is) going to be in the thousands. I’d expect more people to test positive.

“Based on what we’re seeing it’s probably more than likely the Delta strain.”

Mr Sharp said the original case was still being investigated but his resources had been significantly impacted with at least 100 of his workers isolating.

Greater Shepparton City Council mayor Kim O’Keeffe said she was concerned for the community but urged people to be strong.

“The community is concerned because we have seen the increase in numbers,” she said.

“But we are doing everything we need to be doing.

“I am really proud of our community. We’ve certainly shown in the past (when Shepparton had its first cluster in late 2019) and we’re doing it again.

“It is so important that our community is well informed. It’s important that we feel connected to each other.”

There was a strong response for testing. Picture: David Caird

Shepparton’s outbreak forced regional Victoria back into lockdown last month but Cr O’Keeffe said it needed to be done.

“When numbers are rising that’s exactly what we need to do,” she said.

“The quicker we lockdown, the quicker we get out.

“If we didn’t do that we would be in a much worse situation moving forward. Of course it’s devastating for our businesses but health needs to be our priority.”