Last couple of days of Victorian (Australia) figures:
!3 June press release - 8 cases:
One of yesterday’s cases is a general practitioner who worked for several hours at three medical practices while potentially infectious. The doctor did not have any symptoms at the time and went into isolation immediately upon being informed they were a close contact of a confirmed case.
The GP worked at Lilydale Medical Clinic on 11 June and Cedars Medical Clinic in Coburg and Croydon Family Practice on 9 June. All sites are being appropriately cleaned.
The Department is contacting all potentially affected patients. As the doctor is asymptomatic, the risk of transmission is low, however if anyone is experiencing any symptoms they should get tested and self-isolate.
Six of yesterday’s cases were detected in returned travelers in hotel quarantine and one is a household contact linked to the Rydges on Swanston Hotel outbreak.
June 14 press release: 9 new cases:
Yesterday’s new cases are made up of three cases detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine, one case identified through routine testing and five cases linked to two new outbreaks.
During yesterday’s investigations into a confirmed case in a general practitioner, it was identified that while at work the GP had close contact with a confirmed case, prior to their diagnosis. The doctor remains asymptomatic and went into isolation immediately upon being informed they were a close contact.
Two household family contacts of this previously confirmed case have now also been diagnosed with coronavirus, taking the total number in this outbreak to four.
The GP worked at Cedars Medical Clinic in Coburg and Croydon Family Practice on 9 June and Lilydale Medical Clinic on 11 June. All sites are being appropriately cleaned. Contact tracing of staff and patients at the three GP clinics began yesterday and is continuing, however if anyone is experiencing any symptoms they should get tested and self-isolate.
A second new outbreak was also identified yesterday among interconnected family households in Melbourne’s northern and south-eastern suburbs. Three new cases were linked yesterday to one previously confirmed case in this family taking the total in this outbreak to four. Extensive contact tracing is under way.
June 15 press release: 12 new cases:
Yesterday’s new cases are made up of nine cases linked to two outbreaks, one case detected in a returned traveler in hotel quarantine, one case identified through routine testing, and one case under investigation.
A new outbreak was identified yesterday with two new cases linked to a patient of Monash Health. One of the new cases is a healthcare worker, and the second a household contact of the patient, taking the total in this outbreak to three.
The health service is contacting all staff and patients who may have been close contacts of the healthcare worker and the patient. All areas of the health service that the health care worker has been in close contact with are being deep cleaned.
Seven new cases reported yesterday were linked to an extended family outbreak in Melbourne’s northern and south-eastern suburbs. This takes the total in this outbreak to 11. Testing of family members has been undertaken and extensive contact tracing is under way.
Two of those linked to the family outbreak are students at St Dominic’s Primary School in Broadmeadows. One of these students was at school on Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 June, when they were likely infectious.
The school will be closed to enable contact tracing and cleaning. Testing will be undertaken for students and teachers who were at the school from 26 May to 3 June. The school will conduct a deep clean of affected classrooms and common areas.
Pakenham Springs Primary School will also close today, initially for 24 hours, after two students from the same household outbreak tested positive. One child was infectious when attending on Wednesday 10 June. The other child was not infectious while at school. Contact tracing is under way. The school will conduct a deep clean of affected classrooms and common areas.
One case reported yesterday from routine testing attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne. The source of infection is under investigation, but at this stage there are no links to the previous case who attended the protest. They were not thought to be infectious at the time of attending the protest. They are now in self-isolation and contact tracing is underway.
So you can see, they have now worked out how the GP got infected (from a patient), there are ongoing issues related to the outbreak from the Rydges hotel, which at one point held people in hotel quarantine. There are ongoing cases of people in hotel quarantine (Australians returning home are required to stay in a hotel for 14 days). They are working on the others, it is currently not clear if the one who attended the BLM protest got it from the so far only other known case to have attended the BLM rally. Families spread it like wildfire, although generally adults to children, not the other way around. The problem with the Rydges outbreak is that not only did the staff get infected, but they took it home. The same thing happened at the earlier meat packing plant outbreak. Most of the workers got infected, but then so did their spouses, some of whom worked in old age facilities. Then one of the close contacts broke their thumb, and infected the healthcare workers who fixed it, which was actually one of the key leads to find the outbreak.
