Australian Reports of the Virus Spread

[jakeseven7]

As long as they can do bulls*** testing on that sewerage.

Sewage testing overall has turned out to be a bit of a waste of time anyway, QLD, NSW and VIC have all had ongoing positive sewage tests with zero cases surfacing as a result, it’s not a great indicator for the virus being there (or not). Cough shedding cough.

Sure the lower testing rates in QLD and SW/W Sydney could lead some to say it’s bubbling away but you would think it would have crawled out of the outhouse after a while when it hit a vulnerable population - although increasingly the vulnerable are now vaccinated so we might never know...

 

[lovetravellingoz]

and VIC have all had ongoing positive sewage tests with zero cases surfacing as a result,

It flagged the recent Whittlesea Cluster ( now grown into the Victorian Outbreak ), plus also the Lakes Entrance Cases that were part of the Smile Buffalo Cluster.

Three days after the call to get tested went out, the first 4 cases were found in that area.

Media release​

21 May 2021​

​

Today we have become aware of a situation that we want residents in the Epping area to be aware of.​

​

Last night, the Department of Health picked up traces of COVID-19 in the wastewater around the Epping and Wollert area.​

We are encouraging anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, and loss or change in sense of smell or taste – to get tested.​

​

There is a testing site at Northern Hospital in Epping, which is open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm and we’re also setting up a pop-up testing site at Epping Stadium on Harvest Home Road in Epping which is open 9.30 – 5pm from tomorrow.​

​

These types of traces of coronavirus in wastewater are getting detected regularly – with more people leaving Hotel Quarantine – cleared of the virus but still shedding, and moving around our community.​

​

While the detections may be due to someone who has had COVID-19 that is no longer infectious continuing to ‘shed’ the virus, it is also possible that it is due to an active but undiagnosed infectious case.​

​

This detection is of note because there are public exposure sites in the area relating to the Wollert case, who has been isolating in a health hotel outside the catchment.​

​

When we get a detection like this, we go back and re-investigate.​

​

Through the course of these investigations today, we are amending an exposure site location.​

​

Our investigations reveal the individual shopped at the Woolworths Epping North supermarket, corner Epping Road and Lyndarum Drive (2 Lyndarum Drive), from 5.40pm to 6.38pm on Saturday 8 May.​

​

The original exposure site was Woolworths Epping, corner of Cooper and High Streets, Epping, on 8 May – a location which is adjacent to other exposure sites. This was an error.​

​

Once the wastewater detects were confirmed, the team followed up with Primary Close Contacts in the catchment area and conducted a full review.​

​

Through that review, and through the wastewater surveillance that prompted it, we were able to uncover this new information and share it.​

What this means is, out of an abundance of caution, anyone who has been to the following exposure site has to get tested and isolate until they return a negative result:​

• Woolworths Epping North, Corner Epping Rd and Lyndarum Drive (2 Lyndarum Drive), Epping (North) on 8 May between 5.40pm – 6.38pm

That includes staff, and Victorian public health officials have been in contact with Woolworths to arrange staff identification and testing.​

And again, anyone in the Epping and Wollert area with symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, and loss or change in sense of smell or taste – to get tested.​

 

[jakeseven7]

It flagged the recent Whittlesea Cluster ( now grown into the Victorian Outbreak ), plus also the Lakes Entrance Cases that were part of the Smile Buffalo Cluster.

Three days after the call to get tested went out, the first 4 cases were found in that area.

Media release​

21 May 2021​

​

Today we have become aware of a situation that we want residents in the Epping area to be aware of.​

​

Last night, the Department of Health picked up traces of COVID-19 in the wastewater around the Epping and Wollert area.​

We are encouraging anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, and loss or change in sense of smell or taste – to get tested.​

​

There is a testing site at Northern Hospital in Epping, which is open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm and we’re also setting up a pop-up testing site at Epping Stadium on Harvest Home Road in Epping which is open 9.30 – 5pm from tomorrow.​

​

These types of traces of coronavirus in wastewater are getting detected regularly – with more people leaving Hotel Quarantine – cleared of the virus but still shedding, and moving around our community.​

​

While the detections may be due to someone who has had COVID-19 that is no longer infectious continuing to ‘shed’ the virus, it is also possible that it is due to an active but undiagnosed infectious case.​

​

This detection is of note because there are public exposure sites in the area relating to the Wollert case, who has been isolating in a health hotel outside the catchment.​

​

When we get a detection like this, we go back and re-investigate.​

​

Through the course of these investigations today, we are amending an exposure site location.​

​

Our investigations reveal the individual shopped at the Woolworths Epping North supermarket, corner Epping Road and Lyndarum Drive (2 Lyndarum Drive), from 5.40pm to 6.38pm on Saturday 8 May.​

​

The original exposure site was Woolworths Epping, corner of Cooper and High Streets, Epping, on 8 May – a location which is adjacent to other exposure sites. This was an error.​

​

Once the wastewater detects were confirmed, the team followed up with Primary Close Contacts in the catchment area and conducted a full review.​

​

Through that review, and through the wastewater surveillance that prompted it, we were able to uncover this new information and share it.​

What this means is, out of an abundance of caution, anyone who has been to the following exposure site has to get tested and isolate until they return a negative result:​

• Woolworths Epping North, Corner Epping Rd and Lyndarum Drive (2 Lyndarum Drive), Epping (North) on 8 May between 5.40pm – 6.38pm

That includes staff, and Victorian public health officials have been in contact with Woolworths to arrange staff identification and testing.​

And again, anyone in the Epping and Wollert area with symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, and loss or change in sense of smell or taste – to get tested.​

Of course, but it’s been a false alarm more times than not as well.... not saying it’s not worth it but with the ongoing detections in SW/W Sydney for example not resulting in detected cases one has to wonder...

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Of course, but it’s been a false alarm more times than not as well.... not saying it’s not worth it but with the ongoing detections in SW/W Sydney for example not resulting in detected cases one has to wonder...

That it also detects shedding from recovered cases makes it less useful.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

 

[justinbrett]

Watch the video where she made the referrenced comment and then adds to it, and especially at the 1.09 mark

"We cannot say it was a quarantine leak. "We cannot say where that might have happened"

Professor Sharon Lewin thinks the Delta strain escaped hotel quarantine.

Follow the latest news headlines from Australia's most trusted source. Read in-depth expert analysis and watch live coverage on ABC News.

www.abc.net.au

The Doherty Institute is not part of the Vic Government. They perform work in Victoria, but they also have national and international projects and clients.

The Vic Gov is but one client. They also have their own projects.

There's a big difference between what is possible and what is likely

It would be absolutely remarkable if Victoria managed to get two outbreaks at the same time, from two different states with no infections in their source states. Absolutely remarkable (and incredibly unlikely).

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

It seems what’s most likely is that vaccinated people (and thus more likely without symptoms) spread it to the community....

Does anyone still do shift testing of frontline quarantine/border staff?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

It would be absolutely remarkable if Victoria managed to get two outbreaks at the same time, from two different states with no infections in their source states. Absolutely remarkable (and incredibly unlikely).

Yes it would be. But that is not what I was disagreeing with.
.

My take on "our" was different than yours based on all of what Prof Lewin said.

My take was that she thought it most likely it had come from via a relatively recent HQ Breach, and most unlikely that it has come from it being "in the wild" for an extended time. Which certainly I would agree with.

All other Delta Cases so far in this cluster are post camperman. Though camperwoman, or camperkids, may have been earlier, though the commentary to date seems to be that camperman was the first infection and not camperwoman/kids.



I am just at present based on the data to date open as the original source of the West Melbourne Cluster.

• HQ Vic
• HQ in another State besides Vic (Could be any State. ie SA again). NT being as close to zero chance as you could get as it as there have been no breaches at Howard Springs.

Plus

• other (ie Marine)
• Diplomatic
• those with private quarantine arrangements ( the wealthy/actors etc)

I have said all along that the source could well be via Vic HQ. We know the virus is very transmissible, and we know that HQ as it is run in Australia is not ideal and prone to breaches from aerosolisation.


Testing of anyone closely linked to cases which could not be sequenced anywhere in Australia in the likely transmission period may provide more of a clue. Especially those that may have been likely to have been exposed to Delta prior to arrival, or if there was a Delta person in HQ at the same time.

 

[justinbrett]

Yes it would be. But that is not what I was disagreeing with.
My take on "our" was different than yours based on all of what Prof Lewin said.

My take was that she thought it most likely it had come from via a relatively recent HQ Breach, and most unlikely that it has come from it being "in the wild" for an extended time. Which certainly I would agree with.

All other Delta Cases so far in this cluster are post camperman. Though his camperwoman, or camperkids, may have been earlier, though the commentary to date seems to be that camperman was the first infection and not camperwoman/kids.


I am just at present based on the data to date open as the original source of the West Melbourne Cluster.

• HQ Vic
• HQ another State besides Vic (Could be any State. ie SA again)

Plus

• other (ie Marine)
• Diplomatic
• those with private quarantine arrangements ( the wealthy/actors etc)

I have said all along that the source could well be via Vic HQ. We know the virus is very transmissible, and we know that HQ as it is run in Australia is not ideal and prone to a breaches from aerosolisation.


Testing of anyone closely linked to cases which could not be sequenced anywhere in Australia in the likely transmission period may provide more of a clue. Especially those that may have been likely to have been exposed to Delta prior to arrival, or if there was a Delta person in HQ at the same time.

Lewin also said continued testing in NSW with no cases would rule it out as a source. Well, here's another day. We're now well over 14 days since the camperman case.


The SA case was very different in that we know the person was in Hotel HQ himself and was the person to bring it to Melbourne. It's nothing like the camperman case - so the chances of "SA again" or another state is quite minuscule and don't really merit a mention. Jervis Bay could have been a plausible explanation, however unlikely, but we would have seen some positive tests by now. No, without further evidence the main line of enquiry should be the most obvious, and that is locally acquired in Melbourne. Sure, we don't have to rule anything out, NSW has been doing a testing blitz in the area for about 5 days now, but so far it hasn't uncovered anything.

 

[Pushka]

Seems there are 4 new cases in Victoria now.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The SA case was very different in that we know the person was in Hotel HQ himself and was the person to bring it to Melbourne. It's nothing like the camperman case

I would see Case 5 of the Whittlesea Cluster and Camperman (or at least Camperfamily) as being analogous.

Both most likely infected by a missing link. Both have led to passing it on. Neither were in HQ themselves, nor had direct links with HQ (travellers or workers)

Though with Case 5 we know the missing link was connected to Wollert Man by genomics. With Camperfamily we still have no definitive idea as to the source.

With Camperman we know neither as yet the missing link, nor the source of the missing link (Which I certainly agree could well be Vic HQ, or Vic Border Control, Vic Airport Cleaners etc).

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Seems there are 4 new cases in Victoria now.

By Liam Butterworth ABC News​

​

Two more coronavirus cases linked to Arcare Maidstone aged care facility​

There have been two more cases of coronavirus linked to the Arcare Maidstone aged care facility.​

They are a 79-year-old resident and an agency registered nurse.​

​

The resident had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine and is asymptomatic but will be transferred to hospital for public health reasons.​

​

The nurse had received one vaccine dose and all staff who worked yesterday will be required to get tested immediately and self isolate for 14 days.​

​

These latest cases are in addition to the two locally acquired cases reported by Victorian health authorities earlier today.​

The Acting Premier James Merlino says the earlier infections are linked to known cases and already isolating.​

One is an employee of Stratton Finance in Port Melbourne, and the other is a teacher from the North Melbourne Primary school, linked to the West Melbourne cluster.​

Hopefully they are treating Arcare as a Quarantine Facility and testing staff daily.

I doubt its air circulation would be up to scratch though. So the wisdom of keeping people there is questionable, in terms of both the residents and the staff.



EDIT: Additional report now that both cases are asymptomatic. So probably both tested as part of monitoring.

 

[N860CR]

'flatten the curve'

To do what now? What is this bizarre concept you speak of!?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Extract from Daily Vic DHHs report, 6 June..

Update: Outbreaks​

The two community cases today are known primary close contacts of existing outbreaks.​

​

One case is linked to the Port Melbourne outbreak and has been isolating for the entirety of their infectious period.​

​

Through genomic sequencing and epidemiological investigations, public health teams have also connected four of the previously unlinked cases to this outbreak.​

​

The other new case is connected to the West Melbourne outbreak.​

​

The Department is also aware of two positive cases linked to the Arcare Maidstone Residential Aged Care Facility. The individuals are a resident and an employee. All care staff at the facility are required to wear full PPE and submit to regular testing, which is how the staff case was detected. The staff member had not worked at other facilities. These two cases will be included in tomorrow’s numbers.​

​

Investigations continue into the source of the Delta outbreak. The sequence data has been run against the national database and all laboratories supplying this data have been contacted to ensure the database is up to date.​

​

This leaves just three cases with an unknown acquisition source. The acquisition source of the Whittlesea outbreak, the acquisition source of the aged care outbreak and the acquisition source of the West Melbourne outbreak which is associated with the Delta variant.​

​

There are more than 6,000 personal close contacts in quarantine, however, more than 1,900 people are expected to be released today as they reach day 14 of their quarantine period.​

​

98% of the Tier 1 close contacts connected with North Melbourne Primary School have returned a negative test result so far.​

​

More than 200 primary close contacts linked to a construction site where a positive case worked have been identified, with priority testing continuing today for those people.​

​

After further investigation, this site has been added to the public exposure list as a Tier 1 site out of an abundance of caution.​

​

Several exposure sites remain a particular focus for Public Health teams including a network of jewellery wholesalers on levels 4 and 5 of 227 Collins St, which is the corner of Collins and Swanston streets in the city. One business in this building was previously listed as an exposure site, but this has now been expanded.​

​

Anyone who visited the area between 31 May and 3 June is considered a primary close contact and needs to get tested and quarantine.​

​

Craigieburn Central or Epping Plaza continue to be of concern and anyone who shops regularly at these locations is urged to come forward and get tested.​

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Text messages have gone out today to people in Craigieburn and surrounds reminding them to get tested if they have any symptoms.​

​

There are now more than 330 public exposure sites identified and published at Case alerts - public exposure sites.​

​

The Department also manages a number of exposure sites which it doesn’t publish online, particularly if these sites represent lower-risk exposures, or if they have comprehensive record keeping and contact tracing measures in place, or if they identify small, private locations.​

Department of Health and Human Services Victoria | Coronavirus update for Victoria - 6 June 2021

Victoria was notified of eight new cases of coronavirus yesterday.

www.dhhs.vic.gov.au

 

[oz_mark]

Some people won't believe this, but the WA CHO has been out and about today!

COVID-19 update for WA| 6 June. Kindly provided by ABC Perth. | #LIVE: WA Chief Health Officer, Dr Andrew Robertson with a COVID-19 update. | By WA Government | Facebook

#LIVE: WA Chief Health Officer, Dr Andrew Robertson with a COVID-19 update.

fb.watch

A previously confirmed case of COVID-19 has tested positive, after being cleared of his infection based on national guidelines.
The positive test result is not uncommon, and the WA Department of Health believes he has not been infectious while in the community and risk of transmission is very low. However, a very cautious approach will be taken and people who have been at venues that the case visited will be contacted.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

With the linking of 4 of the unlinked cases, there are now 3 unlinked community cases.

 

[jakeseven7]

Hope this doesn’t evolve, hopefully shedding..

———

WA Health taking cautious approach to positive COVID case who spent a day in the community​

Western Australia's Chief Health Officer Dr Andy Robertson said the man, who had travelled to Perth from Colombia via the United States, returned a negative result on his day-10 of quarantine and was therefore able to leave on Friday, when his two weeks were complete.

He tested positive for COVID-19 when he arrived in Australia, becoming the state's 1,017th case.

His infection is believed to have led to the state's 1,018th case, who contracted the virus while in quarantine at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

WA Health taking cautious approach to 'moderately positive' COVID case who spent a day in the community

A man tests positive for coronavirus in Perth after leaving hotel quarantine, where he had been given the all clear, but authorities say they believe he is a "non-infectious chronic shedder" and that his case is not a major concern.

www.abc.net.au

 

[jakeseven7]

On a lighter note, the SA CHO has been the butt of all jokes today with her stupid comments about the football, memes are flying around everywhere, skits on TV - it’s been brilliant, so funny. She got very flustered when questioned again, but still refused to retract Meanwhile some people in the crowds wore oven mits, to take the piss rather than prevent the spread of covid on footballs....

 

[Pushka]

On a lighter note, the SA CHO has been the butt of all jokes today with her stupid comments about the football, memes are flying around everywhere, skits on TV - it’s been brilliant, so funny. She got very flustered when questioned again, but still refused to retract Meanwhile some people in the crowds wore oven mits, to take the piss rather than prevent the spread of covid on footballs....

Oh the jokes about not touching hot sweaty men (that was the clarification statement on the next day) and not touching those, well, you can guess the rest. Lots of pictures of the ball going into the crowd and people holding their hands up (jokingly) and others of security guys moving to people who had touched the balls and squirting their hands with their sanitiser

 

[jakeseven7]

Oh the jokes about not touching hot sweaty men (that was the clarification statement on the next day) and not touching those, well, you can guess the rest. Lots of pictures of the ball going into the crowd and people holding their hands up (jokingly) and others of security guys moving to people who had touched the balls and squirting their hands with their sanitiser

I know, what a joke...... seriously what a brain fart moment!