Melbourne aged care resident and second worker among 11 new Victorian COVID-19 cases

A Melbourne aged care resident has tested positive to COVID-19 a day after it was revealed a worker at the same facility had contracted the virus.

Victorian health authorities announced 11 new community cases on Monday, taking the total number of infections linked to the outbreak to 51 and primary close contacts to 4,200. 

Six of the new cases were identified after the daily cut off which means they will be included in Tuesday’s official numbers. 

Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino said the state was facing a “very significant” challenge, with a “small number of cases infecting a large number of contacts”.

“I want to be very clear with everyone, this outbreak may well get worse before it gets better,” Mr Merlino said. 

The five cases officially recorded for Monday include a second worker at Arcare Maidstone, who had not received her first dose of the vaccine because she was on leave during the rollout, the resident, and the son of the worker who tested positive on Sunday. 

The resident, a woman in her 90s, has been transferred to hospital for monitoring and has so far displayed mild symptoms. 

An Arcare spokesperson confirmed 53 of the facility’s 76 residents had consented to receive the Pfizer vaccine and had so far received one dose.

All workers at the facility would be offered their first or second dose on Monday, they said. 

Eighty-five per cent of residents in private aged care facilities and 100 per cent in Victorian residential facilities have been vaccinated, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday.

“The fact this outbreak has crept into a number of private residential aged care facilities is obviously a very great concern to the Victorian government,” Health Minister Martin Foley said.

The number of public exposure sites swelled to 279 locations across the state on Monday, with a number of grocery stores in inner-west Melbourne added to the list along with the Arcare Maidstone facility. The full list of exposure sites can be found on the Victorian health website. 

Arcare Maidstone was placed into lockdown on Sunday and residents were isolated after the first staff member, a woman in her 50s, tested positive for the virus.

The Altona woman, one of five local cases reported on Sunday, tested positive despite receiving her first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on 12 May.

Contract tracers have so far been unable to determine how the worker contracted the virus, making her a “mystery case”. 

It is possible she was infectious during shifts on Wednesday and Thursday.

People wait to undergo a COVID-19 test in Melbourne.

AAP

No decision has been made on whether the state’s 7-day “circuit breaker” lockdown would be extended on Thursday, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said, describing the situation as a “day-by-day prospect”.

“With more numbers today coming through and those really concerning settings, especially in aged care, we are neck and neck with this virus and it is an absolute beast,” he said.