School closure highlights worrying coronavirus trend
Another coronavirus case from community transmission in Victoria has forced the closure of a Melbourne primary school.
Newbury Primary School in Craigieburn, in the city’s north, is to undergo a thorough clean after a student tested positive on Thursday.
The prep student went to school without symptoms late last week but developed symptoms over the weekend.
The student was tested on Wednesday.
It is one of several schools to close in Victoria in recent weeks due to the virus.
“These are community cases. They have almost certainly been picked up in the community, they happen to be attending school but this is not transmission within the school and the risk of transmission in the school remains very low,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, said on Friday morning.
“We’ve had similar cases, as you know, in Keilor Downs, students who happened to attend school but don’t appear to have picked it up in school, and certainly no evidence that they’ve had ongoing transmission within the school setting.
“The recent cases illustrate that there really is ongoing community transmission in Victoria.”
The case was one of three new cases in Victoria overnight, with the other two return travellers in hotel quarantine.
Victoria has now had 1,681 cases, with nearly 100 active cases remaining.
Professor Sutton said Melbourne’s north and west had become hotspots for the virus and urged people in those areas to minimise outings.
"I want to specifically emphasise these areas of Melbourne appear to be the hotspots at the moment," he said.
"If there are things you don't have to do, don't do them."
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