Deputy chief health officer fails to confirm Chadstone cluster is contained

Melbourne’s Chadstone coronavirus cluster continues to be high risk despite Premier Daniel Andrews claiming it was under control.

Victoria’s deputy chief health officer has pulled back on confirming Melbourne’s Chadstone cluster is contained despite the Premier claiming it was under control.

While announcing 11 more infections and no new deaths on Thursday, Professor Allen Cheng hesitated when questioned about whether the Chadstone outbreak – at the centre of 31 cases – was contained.

“Look, I think we only know what we know. There weren‘t any new cases from Chadstone yesterday, so we have a total of 31 cases. We’re still looking,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“So, all the shops are getting doorknocked and encouraged to get tested. And we really thank all the Chadstone shops for participating in that. And there’s also the clinics for symptomatic people who may have been customers during that time.”

Deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng says health authorities are aware of a fifth case in Kilmore. Picture: Sarah Matray/NCA NewsWire

But on Wednesday the Premier was confident the cluster was “under control”.

“They’ve (the public health team) done a great job in very rapid response, very localised response,” Mr Andrews said.

“This has been very well handled, but at the same time, it just speaks to how wildly infectious it is that it can run, even when it’s well handled, you can finish up with 30-plus cases.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the Chadstone cluster was under control on Wednesday. Picture: Ian Currie/NCA NewsWire

It comes as two more positive COVID-19 cases were connected to the Kilmore cafe overnight, with Prof Cheng confirming health authorities were “aware there is probably a fifth case”.

It could also explain a small rise in regional Victoria’s 14-day virus average, which went from 0.3 to 0.4 overnight.

It’s also been revealed a diner who ate at the Oddfellows Cafe was a relative of a staff member at The Butcher Club, which is connected to the Chadstone outbreak of 31 cases.

Victoria’s state chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton said the man was permitted to be in regional Victoria for work but was not allowed to eat in at a restaurant.

There are more than 230 people isolating in Kilmore as a result of the cases linked to the Oddfellows Cafe.

Originally published as Deputy chief health officer fails to confirm Chadstone cluster is contained