Coronavirus: ‘It’s one degree of separation: lock us down’
Colac is a town on the edge as the number of confirmed COVID cases in the region soared to 27.
Colac is a town on the edge, as the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the region soared to 27, representing about a quarter of all cases in regional Victoria.
The outbreak has prompted the mayor of the city of 11,000 people, 150km southwest of Melbourne, to call for a short lockdown to contain the spread.
With the coronavirus tally in the Colac-Otway region skyrocketing from zero on Thursday to 27 on Tuesday, the town’s residents wore face masks as they hurried down Colac’s main shopping strip, Murray Street.
Colac mayor Jason Schram is calling on the state government to introduce “a quick short-term lockdown” there to contain the spread of the virus, which he fears could spread like wildfire through the close-knit community. “By virtue of one degree of separation, it’s not long before the whole community could be affected,” he said.
“So (we want) a quick temporary lockdown to get on top of testing and tracing, to get things under control and stop the spread, and eliminate it from a small community and relieve the anxiety and fear of the people.”
One case was detected on Friday at the Australian Lamb Company, which employs about 700 people. The abattoir was closed last Friday in a bid to contain the outbreak but the number of cases linked to it rose to 13 on Tuesday.
As Colac braced for the outbreak to escalate, Victoria recorded 374 new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Tuesday, and three women died with COVID-19.
The tally is the second-highest daily caseload on record, following 428 new cases on Friday.
One woman older than 100, a woman in her 90s and a woman in her 80s died with coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing Victoria’s COVID-19 death toll to 42
The bleak set of numbers came ahead of the order for 5.2 million people in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire to wear a mask when they leave home.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday he had no plans to lock down Colac but did not rule out the measure if community transmission continued to spread.
“I think that provided people follow the advice that they’ve been given, then we can limit the spread of the virus there,” Mr Andrews said.
“Having said that, though, these things can change, and we‘ll be monitoring that daily based on the numbers and based on the advice that (Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton) provides to me.”
Local member for Polwarth Richard Riordan criticised the speed with which Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services responded to the escalating crisis, as the local community took up the slack.
“This is what the department doesn’t realise: the bush telegraph goes at the speed of light and DHHS communication goes at the speed of a snail,” he said. “There’s just no comparison.”
But Colac is resilient as well as resourceful. Nurse Maddison Mckay, 25, performed coronavirus tests on abattoir workers and students at Trinity College over the weekend.
She said residents understood the threat the outbreak posed and were taking extra precautions: “Everyone is wearing masks and everyone is social distancing really well.”
Chloe Rosevear, 17, and Xaliya Hancock, 19, said it was alarming that the coronavirus had reached their city, with people panic-buying in their local supermarkets and posting warnings on social media.
Ms Hancock said: “I guess it‘s just a little bit scary, especially down here. We’ve had a case before but nothing really happened from that.”
On Monday, Trinity College closed after a Year 12 student tested positive. It is understood the student is the daughter of the abattoir worker who tested positive.
Colac tailor Patricia McCarthy said she’d begun making masks in April but was now running out.
“We’re probably at 150 a day — there’s three of us here working on them,” she said. “We’re just pumping them out as quick as we possibly can.”
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