Health chief: Cedar Meats should have shut earlier
Victoria’s chief health officer has admitted the coronavirus outbreak at Melbourne abattoir Cedar Meats could have been handled better.
THE Melbourne abattoir at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak should have shut earlier, says Victoria’s chief health officer.
Professor Brett Sutton told 3AW this morning that now reflecting on the outbreak, which was the first at a meatworks in Australia, two cases is now enough to shut this type of facility down.
“I think even two linked cases is probably enough to shut a place now, and probably regardless of size,” Prof Sutton said.
“We were proportionate in as much as we said everyone should be tested (and) consider everyone a close contact but maybe we shouldn’t have waited for a third linked case.
“Maybe for these settings we should shut an entire place down, not just the boning room where it all started but an entire facility.
“I think they’re big calls when some of them will have 1000-plus employees but you need to reflect on what’s happened here and what’s happened overseas.”
Ninety people associated with Cedar Meats have now tested positive for coronavirus. Of the 90 cases, 64 are staff.
When asked if a similar event to Cedar Meats were to happen again would Prof Sutton shut the facility down, he said: “The very first linked case that suggest transmission has occurred at the workplace, I think that could be prompt to shut it all down.”
Last week, it was revealed that the first case linked to the Cedar Meats worksite in Brooklyn was diagnosed on Friday, April 24, and a second worker tested positive just over 24 hours later.
The first Cedar Meats employee to test positive for coronavirus, but not directly linked with the worksite, was diagnosed on April 2.
The employee said they had not been at the worksite for four weeks and the Department of Health decided the abattoir was not considered an exposure site.
Cedar Meats closed on Friday, May 1.
Prof Sutton’s comments today come after Prime Minister Scott Morrison commended Premier Daniel Andrews on his handling of the outbreak and Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said it was handled “perfectly”.
The Weekly Times revealed yesterday a worker at a Victorian poultry processing facility tested positive for coronavirus.
There have been 1523 cases of coronavirus across Victoria.
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