Coronavirus: Outbreak at Cedar Meatworks spreads to aged care home

A coronavirus cluster that has led to more than 60 infections in Victoria has now spread after an aged care worker has tested positive.

A further 13 coronavirus cases have been connected to a Melbourne abattoir, a sign the outbreak is far from over.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said 13 of the state’s 14 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours were directly related to the meat processing facility.

The cluster at Cedar Meats plant in Brooklyn is now accountable for 62 of Victoria’s coronavirus cases.

“That's the nature of outbreaks,” Mr Andrews said.

“This is a very infectious disease, it spreads rapidly. It can get away from you very, very quickly and that's why we've taken a cautious approach, that is why we're pleased to see some stability in these numbers over a period of time, but we are certainly not at zero new cases.”

Mr Andrews said the 13 cases were made up of seven workers and six close contacts.

A worker at Doutta Galla Aged Care in Footscray that was in close contact with an abattoir worker was confirmed as positive yesterday.

This announcement followed the news that a worker at Grant Lodge aged care in Bacchus Marsh tested positive on Saturday.

Both nursing homes have been shut down, while the state government argued it had managed the outbreak perfectly.

Mr Andrews said the abattoir had also been closed and was being deeply cleaned by health authorities.

Public health detectives were also continuing contact tracing to make sure everyone was aware of the outbreak.

An aged care facility, Doutta Galla has been linked to the Cedar Meats factory in Brooklyn - which has been shut down after a Covid19 cluster. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Despite the first coronavirus case linked to the abattoir being recorded on April 2, the department took additional actions including the site closure on April 29.

The person who tested positive on April 2 said they hadn’t been at work while infectious, so the workplace was not considered an exposure site.

The second case linked to the workplace was diagnosed on April 24, followed by a third case about 24 hours later.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud is investigating whether commonwealth officials inspecting abattoirs might have been affected.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said it’s not clear exactly how the outbreak emerged, Cedar Meats is now shut and Prof Sutton expects that will bring the outbreak to a head, after some more cases emerge in the next fortnight.

The chief health officer said the outbreak warned the fight against the virus was far from over, but showed hope of Victoria relaxing measures after May 11.

Victoria’s opposition slammed Premier Daniel Andrews, claiming the meatworks outbreak was Victoria’s “own Ruby Princess”.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos dismissed the comparison, saying “the public health team has done an excellent job in responding to this outbreak.”

The Ruby Princess virus cluster is linked to more than 20 deaths and 600 infections across Australia.