Coles, Kmart and Aldi added to list of 270 Covid exposure sites
Aldi, Kmart, Coles and McDonald’s are just some of the latest exposure sites added by Victoria’s health department as venues visited by positive coronavirus cases.
In the 24 hours to midnight on Monday, Victoria had 45 active cases of coronavirus and is in the middle of a seven-day lockdown.
Five new cases were reported on Monday morning for the same period.
The health department updated its list of exposure sites with more than 90 venues overnight. In total, there are now more than 270 listed exposure sites.
IGA Agora Express at La Trobe University, Big W Craigieburn, Kmart Epping, Coles Epping Plaza, Chemist Warehouse at Epping, Aldi at Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre, Target and Coles at Stockland Point Cook Shopping Centre, and McDonald’s at Northland Shopping Centre were among the venues added.
The IGA, Big W, Aldi, Target and Coles at Stockland Point Cook were all listed as Tier 1 exposure sites.
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By the health department’s definition, it means anyone who visited these venues during the listed times has to get tested and self-isolate immediately for 14 days.
A full list of exposure sites can be found here.
Concerns for aged-care facility
A Melbourne aged-care worker's "mystery case" has authorities worried as fellow staff members and residents prepare for more Covid-19 testing and vaccinations.
Arcare Maidstone residents were locked down and placed into self-isolation on Sunday after a female healthcare worker at the facility tested positive.
The Altona woman worked at the site in the city's northwest on Wednesday and Thursday, and may have been infectious at the time.
Arcare chief executive Colin Singh said no other staff members or residents had returned positive resultsm but further testing was planned for Tuesday.
"We know this is an anxious time, but we ask that you please do not call asking for the results," Mr Singh wrote in a letter.
The Altona woman, one of five local cases reported on Sunday, tested positive despite receiving her first coronavirus jab on May 12.
Only a third of Arcare Maidstone's 110 staff and 53 of 76 residents have been vaccinated so far, and the federal government has brought forward scheduled vaccinations to Monday.
"We are encouraging all the residents and families of those who have not provided consent to reconsider," Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters.
"Around the country, we have seen 85 per cent of residents in residential aged care facilities and 100 per cent of Victorian residential facilities, vaccinated so far."
Aged-care worker's Covid case of 'extreme concern'
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said vaccination rates at the facility demonstrated Canberra's "go-slow culture" on aged care.
"The hindsight of almost 2000 Victorian aged-care residents contracting Covid-19, 655 resident deaths and more than 1600 aged care workers infected was not enough to motivate the Morrison government into urgent action," she said.
The worker's case is of "extreme concern" to Victorian health authorities as contact tracers are yet to link its transmission.
"We will get everybody focused on trying to identify where it has come from and any exposure she may have had," Victoria's Covid-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said.
As Victoria's list of exposure sites soared past 200, Acting Premier James Merlino said no decision had been made on whether the state's seven-day lockdown will end on Thursday evening as planned.
"This is something that is evaluated every hour of every day," he said.
Meanwhile, Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas accused the federal government of failing to come to the aid of stood-down Victorian workers as he announced a $250 million business support package.
If you're interested in more news from Victoria click here.
with AAP
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