How our best weapon is being swamped in virus surge
A massive spike in coronavirus cases has left Victoria’s 1000-plus contact-tracing team struggling to communicate with close contacts in time to isolate them before they unknowingly spread the virus. Now the state’s best weapon in the pandemic fight is on the verge of collapse.
VIC News
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Contact tracing needed to stop new coronavirus spotfires bursting into full-blown outbreaks is on the verge of collapsing, undermining one of Victoria’s only weapons against COVID-19.
A massive surge in cases in recent days has left the state’s 1000-plus contact-tracing team struggling to communicate with close contacts in time to isolate them before they unknowingly spread coronavirus.
Tracing the movements of every new case is undertaken to identify their close contacts, who are then placed in isolation and monitored daily.
However, the Herald Sun understands it has taken up to five days for some close contacts to receive a call letting them know they may be infected, due to the flood of cases.
Without the ability to immediately move ahead of where the virus will likely spread, Victoria will rely solely on adherence to social-distancing measures to prevent outbreaks multiplying.
State Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said transmission of the virus into socially disadvantaged communities in its second wave had seen it potentially leapfrog investigators.
“It has been very challenging in terms of the rapid increase in numbers, that has been faster than in wave one and in many respects faster than some other waves across the world,” Prof Sutton said.
“It does become more and more challenging the greater the number of cases that you have, to get all of those close contacts.”
The UK had to abandon its trace-and-test program in February when it was overrun with cases during COVID-19’s first wave, as did many other under-siege nations.
The Herald Sun understands the job for Victorian investigators is being made more difficult by an increasing reluctance among sections of the western and northwestern Melbourne communities to share information about their movements and close contacts.
But with 772 active cases and more than 5000 close contacts now being monitored in isolation, Premier Daniel Andrews conceded Victoria was at a tipping point where it could no longer have confidence in contact tracing to halt the spread. He warned that even if the state had unlimited investigators and resources it could not trace “anywhere near” 1000 active cases.
“Even though it is a massive team, and they are all working literally day and night, you do get to a point where you just can’t find enough people that is doubling and doubling again,” he said.
“That is not just the positive cases, but all their friends, all their family, all the people they spend time with.
“It gets to a point where you just can’t have confidence that you are actually finding everybody and putting your arms around them and pulling it up.
“That position, we may not quite be there, but we are very, very close.”
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Victorian authorities were doing “everything they can” to trace all contacts of infected patients.
But he said contact tracing had to happen within 24 hours and he offered any extra assistance required to meet that standard set by the national medical expert panel.
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