First mystery COVID-19 case puts pressure on testing and tracing - The Age

Victoria’s first mystery coronavirus case in more than two months will intensify pressure on the state’s testing and contact tracing system after thousands of Boxing Day shoppers at Chadstone shopping centre and cricket spectators at the MCG were potentially exposed to the virus.

Authorities are on high alert after a man in his 30s who attended sales at Chadstone on December 26 and the MCG Boxing Day Test match on December 27 later tested positive to COVID-19.

Some of the tens of thousands of people who visited Chadstone Shopping Centre on December 26 for the Boxing Day sales.Credit:Getty Images

“I think it’s most likely we have another cluster going on,” Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer, Professor Allen Cheng, said on Wednesday.

The discovery that thousands of people could have been exposed to the virus at the two venues came as the federal government put GPs at the forefront of an earlier-than-expected vaccine rollout to begin in early March.

The mystery case revelation prompted the state government to delay plans to bring more Victorians back to work in Melbourne's CBD from next week and led authorities to review safety protocols at upcoming major events including the Australian Open, as Tennis Australia conceded that a spectator-free tournament, due to start on February 8, remains a possibility.

NSW also tightened restrictions on the eve of the Sydney Test, introducing mandatory mask-wearing for spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The man's illness cannot yet be linked to any other cluster, and a leading epidemiologist says the thousands of potential contacts will challenge the capacity of the state's contact tracing and testing system. It comes as lengthy queues outside testing clinics have only recently subsided following the fresh Victorian outbreak and the state government's decision to close the NSW border, prompting tens of thousands of Victorian holidaymakers to return home.

"It is a test," La Trobe University epidemiologist Associate Professor Hassan Vally said. "We are talking about Chadstone and the MCG. That's a lot of people to be contacted and followed up. We predicted Boxing Day shopping would be a risk and going to the cricket would be a risk.”

While authorities do not believe the man was contagious when he visited Chadstone or the MCG, they fear he may have acquired the virus at one of the two locations.

They warned that anyone who shopped at Chadstone shops Culture Kings, Huffer, JD Sports, Jay Jays, H&M, Uniqlo, Myer, Superdry, Footlocker or Dumplings Plus on December 26 between 6am to 2pm, or sat in zone five at the MCG between 12.30pm and 3.30 pm on December 27, should get tested.

Myer closed its Chadstone store early Wednesday to test all staff after Victoria's new mystery case was revealed to have shopped there.

A Myer spokesman said the closure of the Chadstone store was in line with advice from the Department of Health and Human Safety and would allow staff to get tested.
The store will reopen on Thursday using staff from other unaffected stores, while Chadstone staff will remain in isolation until they receive their test results.

We are talking about Chadstone and the MCG. That's a lot of people to be contacted and followed up.

Associate Professor Hassan Vally

A new testing site was opened on Wednesday near gate one at the MCG but authorities are urging people who need to be swabbed to attend their nearest testing venue and isolate until they receive a negative result.

COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said around 8000 people were sitting in zone five of the MCG's Great Southern Stand on December 27.

A COVID-19 testing centre opened at the MCG on Wednesday.Credit:Luis Ascui

Tens of thousands of shoppers also descended on Chadstone on Boxing Day but it's not known exactly how many visited between the hours of 6am to 2pm, when the mystery case potentially acquired the virus.

Victoria last recorded a mystery coronavirus case on October 29 and genomic testing is under way to determine whether the new case is linked to the recent Black Rock cluster or the recent NSW outbreak.

Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said Wednesday’s mystery case was concerning because it meant an infected person had not been picked up by testing and there may be low-level virus transmission within the community.

“If this person hasn’t travelled from NSW or been released from hotel quarantine and they have no ties to the Black Rock cluster it means there is at least one missing case out there,” she said.

“And as soon as you have one missing chain of transmission, it begs the question of what else don’t you know.”

University of Melbourne senior research fellow Dr Jason Thompson, who was a member of the research team that provided scientific modelling to help inform the Victorian government's road map out of lockdown, said any situation in a crowded setting, particularly indoors, increased a person’s risk of exposure.

“The lowest risk thing people can do is either plan to avoid those situations altogether, or if they can’t, wear a well-fitted mask and minimise the time you spend there,” he said.

The incident is another blow for retailers that are reeling from the devastating impacts of the pandemic and trying to restore shoppers’ confidence.

Staff at the impacted shops at Chadstone are being tested for COVID-19 while their workplaces are closed for deep cleaning.

Dumplings Plus Chadstone's retail manager Ken Lee said his store would reopen once staff had received their test results. He said all staff who worked on December 26 were on paid leave so that they could get tested and isolate.

“I told my store manager to tell all the staff that worked on that day to go for a test,” he said.

Fleur Brown, head of industry affairs at the Australian Retailers Association, said retailers had worked incredibly hard and spared no expense to ensure their businesses were COVID-safe.

“Businesses have ramped up sanitation, many have introduced separate entry and exit points, some conduct temperature checks, while supermarkets wipe down trolleys and other high touch areas,” she said.

She said shopping had remained one of the lowest risk activities during the pandemic.

Contact tracers believe they have a strong handle on everyone the mystery case came into contact with after he developed symptoms on December 30. He has been self-isolating since December 31, was tested on January 3 and received his result on January 5.

Professor Cheng said the decision to list Chadstone and the MCG as possible acquisition sites for the mystery case was precautionary and there were several other locations where the man was more likely to have caught the virus.

“He has had a number of contacts in private houses. I think they would probably be more likely,” he said.

The man also had contact with someone from NSW on Christmas Eve, and authorities are awaiting the contact's test results. But Professor Cheng said it was unlikely the NSW contact passed on the virus, as he did not report feeling unwell.

Contact tracers have tapped into the man's mobile phone location data to identify other areas at Chadstone that he may have visited.

There are now 41 active cases in Victoria, including 28 locally acquired cases.

With Chloe Booker

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2021-01-06 08:35:00Z
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