Victorian health authorities are investigating a coronavirus "outbreak" at a private psychiatric facility which has resulted in at least 14 confirmed cases of the virus so far.
Key points:
- Health authorities have confirmed six new cases of coronavirus including three from the psychiatric facility
- None of the new cases are believed to be community transmissions from unknown sources
- No additional deaths have been linked to the coronavirus in Victoria in the past 24 hours
Five patients, five staff and four household close contacts have tested positive to coronavirus after the first case was confirmed in late March.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said further testing including all patients and staff was underway today to find any further spread.
"Given that this is a high-risk setting we are undertaking active surveillance," she said during a press conference.
Ms Mikakos said six more cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in the past 24 hours bringing the state's total to 1,343 but there had been no additional deaths.
Three of these cases were from the psychiatric facility outbreak.
None of the new cases were considered to be community transmission from unknown sources.
Twenty-seven people were in hospital with 11 in intensive care and three more people had recovered, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,254.
Outbreak highlights 'explosive potential' of virus
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said health authorities were doing "absolutely everything that is required" to halt the outbreak, with everyone in the facility and their close contacts in quarantine and needing to be tested and cleared before being "out and about again".
Professor Sutton said the outbreak highlighted the "explosive potential" of the virus to spread rapidly within facilities.
Vic COVID-19 snapshot
- Confirmed cases so far: 1,343
- Deaths: 16
- Suspected community transmissions: 135
- Cases in hospital: 27
- Intensive care patients: 11
- Recovered patients: 1,254
- Tests carried out: More than 96,000
Latest information from the Victorian Government
He said some additional cases tested positive this week, causing concern about ongoing transmission at the psychiatric facility.
In response, measures had been introduced including thorough cleaning and a ban on new patients and transfers.
There was no need to identify the facility if contact tracing was undertaken, he said.
Professor Sutton said there had been a number of clusters including at healthcare facilities.
The Alfred hospital cluster hadn't "had activity for some time" but health authorities were watching some other clusters.
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2020-04-24 01:11:38Z
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