Coronavirus: Social settings top site for spreading
Aged care is by far the most common known site of transmission for coronavirus in Victoria after social settings, according to data.
Aged care is by far the most common known site of transmission for coronavirus in Victoria after social settings, followed by schools, abattoirs and hospitals, according to data released on Wednesday by the state’s health department.
The data shows 2453 of the 15,646 cases of COVID-19 in Victoria since the pandemic began have been linked to aged or residential care facilities, while social settings such as family homes, student accommodation and gatherings accounted for 5004 cases across 369 clusters.
This was followed by 630 cases linked to schools, 551 linked to abattoirs, 540 linked to hospital or healthcare settings, and 439 linked to warehouses.
Food premises account for 268 cases, childcare 180 and food distribution 172.
The data shows there have been 137 outbreaks linked to aged and residential care, with 69 in schools, 53 in hospitals, 43 in warehouses, 21 in childcare, 14 each in retail and abattoirs, and 11 in supermarkets.
Although there have been a relatively small number of abattoir outbreaks, several of them accounted for hundreds of cases.
The transmission site data came as Victoria notched up its fourth consecutive day of record COVID-19 deaths, with 21 people succumbing to the virus in the 24 hours to Wednesday, following 19 deaths on Tuesday, 18 on Monday and 16 on Sunday.
Of the 21 latest deaths, 16 were linked to aged care.
However, the number of active cases in Victoria fell for the first time in more than two months.
Despite 410 new cases of coronavirus being recorded in the 24 hours to Wednesday, the number of active cases fell from 7880 on Tuesday to 7877 on Wednesday.
Sadly, this is partly due to the 21 deaths, but also to almost as many recoveries as new cases.
The number of cases where contact tracers were unable to establish a source of infection increased by 58 in the 24 hours to Tuesday to 2961.
This does not include 2269 cases that remained under investigation on Wednesday.
The 410 new cases on Wednesday follow 331 on Tuesday, 322 on Monday and 394 on Sunday.
Despite the slightly higher number, the seven-day daily average fell to its lowest figure in 18 days, at 406.
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