A third Melbourne school has been forced to close this week after a child tested positive to coronavirus, while a cluster in Melbourne family has now been linked to a dozen cases.
The grade five pupil who attends Strathmore Primary School in the city's north-west was among nine new cases in Victoria in the past day.
Victoria's Chief Medical Officer Brett Sutton has moved to reassure parents that schools are safe, despite five children testing positive at three schools in two days. And he has flagged the prospect of an announcement within days of a staged return to work, for people working from home.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says transmission between children is unusual. Credit:Eddie Jim
'There are millions of kids in school everyday," Professor Sutton told radio station 3AW on Tuesday morning.
"So when we get community cases, mostly acquired in their own household or out in the community, some of those kids will be going to school. What's reassuring for me...and it's been the global picture, is when we look at the classroom contacts of those kids, they don't pick up illness."
It comes after two other Melbourne primary schools were forced to close because of an outbreak linked to one family, spread across four suburbs, on Monday.
Professor Sutton said all the evidence to date pointed to children being more at risk of becoming infected after spending prolonged time with infected family members rather than through transmission from their peers at school.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos.Credit:Scott McNaughton
He stressed children still made up a tiny fraction of all cases in Victoria and that severe illness in children who contracted the virus remained rare.
Professor Sutton revealed a formal announcement on the return to work model could be made as early as this weekend and indicated it would likely involve a staggered approach.
"We'll move in increments, it won't be a sudden return to work by everyone so we have more time to follow the numbers," he said.
Professor Sutton said areas of state which were less risky for transmission, like suburbs outside of the CBD, were likely to be allowed to return to work earlier.
One new COVID-19 case revealed on Tuesday was linked to the family cluster, which is spread across five households in Coburg, Broadmeadows, Pakenham and Reservoir. Twelve family members have tested positive to the virus so far.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the new case linked to the cluster was an adult family member.
The family is understood to have had recent gatherings which resulted in four children and a number of other family members contracting COVID-19.
Two of the children in the family attend Pakenham Springs Primary School in Melbourne's south-east, while another two attend St Dominic's Primary School in Broadmeadows. Both schools have been shut as extensive cleaning and contact tracing is undertaken.
The Strathmore Primary pupil is not linked to the family cluster and the source of that infection is still under investigation, Ms Mikakos said.
Strathmore Primary School told parents and staff on Tuesday it would be closed for 24 hours while it is deep cleaned and close contacts are traced.
Of the new cases revealed today, two more are linked to an infected patient at Monash Health, bringing the total number of cases in that outbreak to six.
It emerged on Monday that a healthcare worker at Monash Health was diagnosed with COVID-19 and close contact of the infected patient also tested positive.
Two more returned travellers also tested positive overnight, while one new case was detected through routine testing.
Ms Mikakos said three people who were close contacts of a young woman who attended the Black Lives Matter rally and tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday have so far tested negative.
"These were individuals who attended the protest with the second protester," Ms Mikakos said. "I guess it's a good sign that the people that person was with on the day have all come back as a negative."
Professor Sutton also issued a stern warning to the Save Our Pubs COVID-19 rebellion movement after some pub owners have suggested they may be forced to breach social distancing rules to stay in business.
"You need to keep following the rules ... we don't make them out of anything other than a cautious approach to managing the risk," he said. "The rules are there for a reason."
Get our Morning & Evening Edition newsletters
Melissa Cunningham is The Age's health reporter.
Noel Towell is State Political Editor for The Age
Most Viewed in National
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3RoaXJkLXByaW1hcnktc2Nob29sLWZvcmNlZC10by1jbG9zZS1hZnRlci1jaGlsZC10ZXN0cy1wb3NpdGl2ZS10by1jb3ZpZC0xOS0yMDIwMDYxNi1wNTUyeW8uaHRtbNIBgAFodHRwczovL2FtcC5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3RoaXJkLXByaW1hcnktc2Nob29sLWZvcmNlZC10by1jbG9zZS1hZnRlci1jaGlsZC10ZXN0cy1wb3NpdGl2ZS10by1jb3ZpZC0xOS0yMDIwMDYxNi1wNTUyeW8uaHRtbA?oc=5
2020-06-16 01:55:10Z
52780853852664
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Third primary school forced to close after child tests positive to COVID-19 - Sydney Morning Herald"
Post a Comment