COVID-19 cases jumped in Latrobe City within 48 hours of the area emerging from lockdown.
the main points:
- Latrobe City recorded 15 new cases overnight
- Bau Bao, adjacent to the local government, saw an increase of 11 cases
- Latrobe came out of lockdown on Tuesday
Latrobe City recorded 15 new cases overnight. The area began a seven-day lockdown on September 28 and ended at midnight on Tuesday.
The Gippsland Area Public Health Unit listed a new Level 1 exposure site in Churchill last night in its Chemical Discount Centre.
There are 10 Level 1 exposure locations in the La Trobe Valley including a movie theater, cinema, gym, restaurant, bank and retail stores.
Acting Chief Health Officer Ben Cui said the majority of the new cases are linked to known cases in the local outbreak.
Morwell Park Elementary School has told the school community that there has been a positive case, and all staff and students who were on site on Monday, October 4, must be quarantined while they await further instructions from the Department of Health.
ABC Gippsland: Emma Field
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“The question of how we respond to cases in schools and more broadly to increases in cases in local areas will become more and more nuanced, as we all move on that roadmap that is defined by our baseline vaccination status in the community.
“Answering for a particular area, whether it is Latrobe or elsewhere, if there are concerns about the nature of cases, if health services are particularly affected, if there is significant school exposure, it all goes into the decision-making process of whether Close a local government area.
“Over time, we will see more individual classes or individual students being forced to quarantine rather than closing entire schools.
“We are seeing an increase in case numbers in many parts of the region,” he said.
“Extended lockdowns in regional areas, as in the Melbourne metro in the future, should become increasingly rare. And how we can go ahead and do it safely, is to get as many people as possible right now, as possible in a can.”
Yesterday, the Ministry of Health announced eight new cases in Latrobe City.
Increasing cases of Bao Bao
It comes as the neighboring local government area of Bau Bau, in West Gippsland, recorded 11 new cases overnight.
“There is more work being done to link the cases that have been reported in this area,” Cui said.
Last night, the Gippsland District Public Health Unit released two new Level 1 exposure sites in Bao Bao, at Middles Tapas Restaurant and Bar in Druen and The Penn Café in Warragul Square.
In regional Victoria, 115 new cases were reported today, Coy says, bringing the total to 707 active cases outside Melbourne.
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