Andrews is now saying the positive AO cases are shedding. Hope this doesnt result in eased restrictions for the people on those flights.
If a non-tennis player, non-celebrity arrived and tested positive, I doubt the health team would work so hard to find a loophole to declare it shedding. The reality is that regular person would be in medi hotel for 14 days regardless.
I believe he indicated that there are likely to be viral shedding and that the heath officials would report on the actual status of this later today.
You also seem to have an extraordinaly low opinion of health professionals in that you actually believe that they are looking for "loopholes".
I do not believe that your comment is at all reflective of the practice used by VicDHHS with respect to cases that have been investigated as potential viral shedding cases.
Throughout the pandemic VicDHHS has monitored all cases which may be viral shedding. When they come up they are reported on in the daily Vic DHHS report.
They even have a specific expert committee that reviews all such cases. Most likely they will reviewing the AO latest such cases, just as they have in the past.
As Sutton has previously stated such viral shedding cases are not at all unusual. Givn this cohort are all from overseas it is probably not at all surprising that it will have in it people who have had Covid 19, but who have recovered.
As to restrictions levels that would be up to the health officials to decide on. Some of the past cases reviewed in the past have been patients returning for ongoing treatment including cancer patients and so the expert committee deciding on whether they should be deemed as possibly, or probably infectious or not., is most important in managing their care and treatment plus risk to other patients and healthworkers.in
Such cases the past are treated as positive cases, unless their status is changed.
With viral shedding cases in HQ Dr Chant recently provided an explanation on how isolation and quarantine worked and why there was a maximum period to it so that such viral shedding cases were not unfairly held in isolation longer than they needed to be. She also explained why the the isolation period was increased by 4 days due to the more infectious strains.
If the expert committee is satisfied that a case is viral shedding and that the person is not infectious then then they are released from isolation.
In the case of the AO my understanding is that they will have to serve the 14 quarantine period even if it is a viral shedding determination, but that it may then free them and everyone else on their flight to to train for 5 hours outside. That is of course as long as there are no positive cases on their flight.
What is viral shedding?
A person with coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected cells in their body which release the virus into the environment. This process – viral shedding – occurs when someone ‘sheds’ coronavirus (COVID-19) by breathing, sneezing or coughing, or through their faeces and urine.
After recovering from coronavirus (COVID-19), some people can have non-infectious fragments of the virus left in their bodies for some time. These fragments may still return a positive result in a test for the virus, although this result may be weak and prompt further testing to confirm they are no longer infectious (not an active or new case).
Find out more about the science behind coronavirus (COVID-19).
www.dhhs.vic.gov.au
ie This was not an AO case and is reflective of what occurs in Victoria with respect to viral shedding investigations.
www.betootaadvocate.com
