Coronavirus: tower cluster cases hit new high

Victoria’s two coronavirus megaclusters have blown out to epic proportions.

Coronavirus cases linked to public housing commission flats have almost doubled. Pictured is 159 Melrose Street, North Melbourne. Picture : Ian Currie

Victoria’s two coronavirus megaclusters have blown out to epic proportions, with the number of cases linked to public housing towers in Melbourne’s inner northwest rising to 237 on Sunday, and a linked cluster at an Islamic school in the outer west reaching 142 cases.

The confirmation that the number of COVID-19 cases linked to public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington had risen to 237 came just hours after Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton had said the tally was up to 145.

A separate outbreak in high-rise public housing in Carlton, in Melbourne’s inner north, was linked to 28 cases on Sunday.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton held a press conference on Victoria’s COVID-19 figures on Sunday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Late on Sunday, Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services also confirmed that a cluster at Al-Taqwa College in Truganina had reached 142 cases.

These include 76 students, 28 staff, 16 close contacts and 22 cases under investigation.

The first positive case was in a teacher who is believed to have worked at the school for two days while infectious, and was notified to the department on June 27 — just over a fortnight ago.

The Australian reported last week that some families living in the public housing towers attend Al-Taqwa College.

As Year 11 and 12 students and year 10 students completing VCE subjects return to school on Monday, Al-Taqwa College will be one of 16 schools across Melbourne which remain completely closed due to coronavirus infections.

A DHHS spokesman said the health department was working with the Victorian education department to develop a plan for reopening.

“We are watching the situation closely, and if there is any change to the chief health officer’s recommendations we will provide parents and students with as much notice as possible,” the spokesman said.

Victoria now has 1253 more confirmed active cases of coronavirus than it did a fortnight ago, with the total reaching 1484 on Sunday.

The number of cases from an unknown source has increased by almost 300 in that time, from 265 on June 28 to 562 on Sunday.

Other Victorian COVID-19 clusters with new cases on Sunday included a cluster totalling four cases linked to the Lamanna supermarket in Essendon, in Melbourne‘s northwest, two cases linked to the Linfox distribution centre in Truganina, in Melbourne‘s outer west, 11 cases linked to Somerville Meats retail services in Tottenham, also in the west, six linked to Cenvic Construction Riverina Apartments in Footscray in the inner west and four cases linked to JBS abattoir in Brooklyn, in Melbourne’s west.

As well as two cases at the Box Hill hospital in Melbourne’s east, and clusters totalling 11 cases and eight cases at Brunswick Private Hospital and The Alfred respectively, there are also sizeable clusters at aged care facilities.

These include 11 cases at Menarock Life Aged Care in Essendon, and 12 linked to Glendale Aged Care Facility in Werribee, in Melbourne‘s outer southwest, including that of 90-year-old great-grandfather Alf Jordan, who died of COVID-19 late last week.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton acknowledged the clusters had infected a number of “high-risk” settings.