A cluster of coronavirus cases at a Melbourne meatworks has risen to 49, as two Victorian aged care homes have gone into lockdown after workers tested positive to the virus.
Key points:
- A Bacchus Marsh aged care home is in lockdown after an employee tested positive to coronavirus
- Victoria has seen its fourth consecutive day of double-digit increases in coronavirus cases
- Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has launched a scathing attack on the Government’s handling of the Cedar Meats Australia outbreak, labelling it “Daniel Andrews’s own Ruby Princess”
Grant Lodge, a 30-bed residential aged care facility at Bacchus Marsh, north-west of Melbourne, is now in lockdown.
Djerriwarrh Health Services, which runs the facility, said an employee, who was asymptomatic, tested positive coronavirus on Saturday as part of Victoria’s statewide testing blitz.
The worker is isolating at home and has not shown any signs of illness.
All staff members and the 24 residents have been tested, the health service said, and the facility had undergone a complete and thorough cleaning process.
The aged care residence is next door to the Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital.
At a press conference, Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed a second aged care home, Doutta Galla Aged Care Home in Footscray, had also entered lockdown after a worker returned a positive test.
“All residents in that service are being well supported and are being observed,” Ms Mikakos said.
That worker was a close contact of a worker at the Cedar Meats Australia abattoir, she said.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was asked if the worker was a partner of a Cedar Meats employee.
He said a close contact was defined as a person who either resided with or spent time with a confirmed case of coronavirus.
Doutta Galla Aged Services said the staff member had no symptoms and had last worked at the home on April 26.
“There is not an outbreak nor a COVID-19 cluster, and no resident or staff are showing