New tools to be used as tracing troubles put states on edge

Fake names and incomplete details are hampering efforts to track down potential COVID-19 contacts, and it’s making other states nervous.

QR codes are one method of signing in at public places. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

Victorian health authorities have reported issues tracking down potential COVID-19 contacts during this week’s hotel quarantine outbreak, putting other states on high alert.

Credit card transactions and VicRoads licence details are now being used to ensure tracers are speaking to all contacts as quickly as possible.

The Herald Sun can reveal dozens of Victorians were not told within 48 hours that they had been identified as contacts of someone who had received a positive result from the quarantine outbreak.

This information was fed by the Health Department into the national common operating picture — which allows each jurisdiction to monitor how outbreaks being handled — and caused alarm in other states.

But the Herald Sun has been told more than 95 per cent of all Victorian contacts are being notified within 48 hours, with the outstanding cases attributed to people providing false or incomplete identification details at exposure sites.

As a result, health authorities have stepped up efforts to work with banks and major businesses to identify all customers using transaction records from exposure sites.

The Herald Sun understands VicRoads is also helping to provide contact details for those identified through banking records so contact tracers can approach them, regardless of the information they entered while attending businesses.

The national standard is for 95 per cent of contacts to be identified within 48 hours. Picture: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images.

On Tuesday, Victorian officials reported to the national system that 31 of 71 contacts had not been contacted within two days because of difficulties finding correct phone numbers.

It is understood this triggered alarm in other state health teams, because it appeared that 43 per cent of contacts were not notified in the required window that day, setting off a red light as the national standard is that 95 per cent of contacts must be tracked down in 48 hours.

South Australia moved to close its border to Melbourne on Wednesday night.

But the Herald Sun has been told that on Tuesday, Victorian contact tracers were dealing with more than 2000 primary and secondary contacts, most of whom had already been spoken to, and only data from those identified at problematic exposure sites was sent into the common operating picture.

On Monday, Victorian officials had reported that 26 contacts had waited longer than 48 hours to be notified, which they said was 8.9 per cent of the total on the day.

By Wednesday, the state’s common operating picture update indicated only one contact was still awaiting notification.

The Herald Sun has been told the improvement was linked to Victorian contact tracers using extra data sources — including banking transactions and VicRoads data — to find contact details for those linked to exposure sites.

A Health Department spokesman said contact tracers worked “hard and fast” to track down close contacts, “even when that information provided to us through QR code entries and other records is incorrect, or missing altogether”.

“When details people provide through QR code entries is incorrect or missing, contact tracing teams work quickly to determine correct information through agencies and businesses such as VicRoads, Services Australia and banks. This can take time,” he said.