Coronavirus Australia live: Nervous wait as 1135 tests negative in northern Melbourne - NEWS.com.au

The family, who have asked not to be identified, told The Age they were cleared to leave isolation by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) days before one of their children unknowingly attended school while infectious.

The Year 5 boy attended East Preston Islamic College for two days while infectious on October 19 and 20, sparking a cluster of at least 39 active coronavirus cases.

The family has hit back at claims from authorities they were “expressly told not to” send the boy to school, with an email revealing the family was cleared to return to school and work days before.

Premier Daniel Andrews delayed lifting lockdown restrictions as a result of the cluster, saying there would be a “pause” while authorities waited for the results from a testing blitz.

It comes as Victoria recorded seven new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, with no new deaths.

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A Melbourne cafe owner has held back tears during a live interview while talking about the impacts of the city's continued lockdown.

Adrian Rigotto, owner of Match & Co Cafe, became emotional on Nine's Today this morning after being asked about the premier's decision not to ease restrictions yesterday.

"It's been very tough for us all here. And not on here in Melbourne but all over Victoria. You know, we don't feel there is any confidence in the government, his contact tracing, everything is breaking down," Mr Rigotto said.

"Obviously we don't want to go back into where we were, but look, at the end of the day are we protecting the minority, are we aren't protecting the majority."

Mr Rigotto's cafe had been closed for about nine months now and employs about 25 full-time staff and multiple casual workers.

He told the show he has "got nothing left".

Picture: Today/Nine

"You don't understand. I'm only a small little fish, imagine these big companies who have got shops everywhere, you know, chains. Retail. There is nothing," he said.

"You know, people think, oh lift the restrictions and it's going to happen. You know, we are all going to go shopping. There is nothing. There is no money. People don't have anything. This is the reality."

Mr Rigotto said the current approach by the government isn't working, adding that he had been brought to his knees by the restrictions.

"Here in Melbourne, on Friday, we had a public holiday. For a football game. That we didn't even have. We had a public holiday. I open, I had to pay all my staff, their penalty rates," he said.

"We are already on our knees. On Tuesday we have another public holiday. For a horse race that no-one can attend. Where do you stop?"

The family at the centre of the new COVID-19 cluster in Melbourne's north have claimed misinformation from health authorities resulted in the virus spreading.

The family, who have asked not to be identified, told The Age they were cleared to leave isolation by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) days before one of their children unknowingly attended school while infectious.

The Year 5 boy attended East Preston Islamic College for two days while infectious on October 19 and 20, sparking a cluster of at least 39 active coronavirus cases.

Health authorities claimed the family was in quarantine at the time were “expressly told not to” send the boy to school.

But the family has now hit back at these claims, showing The Age an email sent from the DHHS on October 17 informing them they were free to leave isolation.

Picture: Rob Leeson

The family went into hotel quarantine at the start of the month after they were identified as a close contact of a confirmed virus case on October 6.

Tests were carried out on October 8 and the following day the mother, father and two children received their positive results.

The family continued to isolate at home, with one family member saying there were "100 per cent certain" authorities did not say anything about the Year 5 boy needing to be isolated.

On October 10 a nurse visited the home to test the boy, with the family saying they never received the results from the boy's test, even after informing DHHS they were still waiting on the results.

Despite this, on October 17, the family received the email from DHHS clearing the mother, father and two other children to go back to work and school.

The family claimed there was no mention of the other child's situation during discussions with health authorities so they assumed the boy had not tested positive to the virus.

“Due to the phone call and email that did not mention [the boy, we] didn’t take him to get tested,” one family member told The Age.

“Considering they called on the 17th, and did not mention any day 11 test, and halted all communications with my [family] from that day on, [we] thought he was in the clear.”

Victoria's former health minister Jenny Mikakos has lashed out at the decision to keep Melbourne in lockdown, despite surpassing the target of having a rolling average of less than five cases.

In a series of tweets, Ms Mikakos said a delay in reopening the city was "unnecessary".

"Vic has met the under 5 threshold which some thought was unachievable. This was a very cautious target. 6/7 of new cases are related to a known outbreak so the risk is manageable," she wrote.

"The set reopening is gradual & safe so any delay is unnecessary. It’s paralysis in decision-making."

Ms Mikakos also appeared to hit out at both sides of politics, telling the "red team" that "critical thinking is allowed. We’re not the US."

Dear Red Team,
1 Critical thinking is allowed. We’re not the US.
2 I was an architect of the Roadmap. Public health won out. It’s worked.
3 We’ve met the rolling average. There could be a new outbreak next week. You can’t delay opening up forever.
Dear Blue Team, refer to #2.
— Jenny Mikakos #StayHomeSaveLives (@JennyMikakos) October 25, 2020

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Last week Melbourne residents believed they would be waking up to a further easing of restrictions today, instead a fresh outbreak has kept the city's harsh lockdown measures in place.

Despite Victoria smashing its 14 day rolling average target, Premier Daniel Andrews announced yesterday that he would be hitting "pause" on reopening plans.

We had hoped today to be able to announce that metropolitan Melbourne would take significant steps, not from today but from mid week, round retail, hospitality and a whole range of other, important next steps," he said.

However he said the city was "not in a position" to do that because there were "at least 1000 test results from that northern metropolitan outbreak that are in the labs".

"This is not anything other than a cautious pause, to wait to get that important information, to get the results of those tests, just to rule out whether there are, whether there is more virus there than we think."

Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Mr Andrews copped swift backlash following the announcement, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelling the decision a "profound disappointment".

“Of course, Victorians do not want to face another lockdown and of course they don’t want all of this to have been for nothing. That is why ensuring the state government’s capability to deal with outbreaks through their public health response is so essential," Mr Morrison said in a joint statement with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Health Minister Greg Hunt.

“At some point, you have to move forward and put your public health systems to work in a bid to reclaim the jobs that have been lost."

The Prime Minister said the continued lockdown suggested the state government was not confident its health system was capable of suppressing transmission of the virus.

The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services received more than 1000 test results on Sunday evening, with no new cases linked to the northern Melbourne outbreak as yet.

More than 1135 results were returned to the Department.

In excess of 13,000 people have been tested in Banyule, Darebin, Hume, Moreland and Nillumbik since Tuesday.

1400 tests from today are in the labs and testing will continue overnight.

39 cases are currently linked to the outbreak.

“This testing enables us to get a very clear picture of how many cases there are and ensure there is a plan in place for everyone who tests positive along with the close contacts," Victoria’s Commander of Testing and Community Engagement Jeroen Weimar said.
“There will at times no doubt be delays as more people come forward, but we are so appreciative of everyone making the effort, particularly during these colder spring days.”

Picture: Daniel Pockett/NCA NewsWire

DHHS is still tracing links between the outbreak and other positive cases within the area.

Mr Weimar said the community’s actions "showed a real willingness to do whatever was necessary to get on top of the virus and assist in managing its transmission".

Victorians were disappointed on Sunday by the news there would be a "pause" on the lifting of restrictions as the state waited for results of a testing blitz in response to the outbreak in northern Melbourne, even though the 14-day average of new cases dropped below five.

Additionally, there are nine cases that have not been traced to a known source yet, and there needs to be less than five in the past 14 days.