Goulburn Valley Health chief executive Matt Sharp said the new cases were linked to known community outbreaks and were identified as close contacts.
Of the 16 active cases in Greater Shepparton, seven are related to the Shepparton Villages outbreak being two staff members, four close contacts of the staff members, who are not employed at Shepparton Villages, and one resident at Maculata Place. A Greater Shepparton Secondary College Wanganui Campus student is linked to this outbreak.
There is one community outbreak that has five active cases which are linked.
This outbreak is linked to Unilever Tatura and believed to be linked to First Choice Liquor Shepparton.
There is one other community outbreak that has two active cases.
There are two other single, separate active cases.
Mr Sharp said the person who died from COVID-19 at GV Health was not from the area, and was therefore not included in Greater Shepparton’s active case tally.
‘‘GV Health extends its sympathies to the family members and friends of the person,’’ Mr Sharp said.
‘‘GV Health asks the privacy of the family be respected at this time.’’
An Aquamoves staff member is among the new positive COVID-19 cases, but it is not known which outbreak this case is linked to.
A Greater Shepparton City Council spokesperson said the staff member worked at Aquamoves on Tuesday, August 4, and the morning of Wednesday, August 5.
‘‘The affected staff member is now in self-isolation as are other Aquamoves staff that may have been in contact with their colleague,’’ the spokesperson said.
‘‘Council has closed Aquamoves today to all staff with a deep clean of the facility to be undertaken.’’
Aquamoves has been closed to patrons since Thursday, August 6, when stage three COVID-19 restrictions were enforced.
The spokesperson said the staff member contracted the virus outside of Aquamoves, acted ‘‘immediately and responsibly’’, and had ‘‘minimal’’ close contact with Aquamoves patrons.
‘‘In performing their role, the staff member has had minimal close contact with patrons attending Aquamoves on August 4 and 5,’’ the spokesperson said.
‘‘A ‘close contact’ is defined as being anyone who has been in close proximity with an affected person for 15 minutes in the same room for two hours.
‘‘Contact tracing is now being undertaken by GV Health who will make direct contact with anyone they believe may be at risk of contracting the virus as a result of attending Aquamoves at the identified time.
‘‘Council takes the health, safety and wellbeing of its staff and community extremely seriously and is following the chief medical officer’s direction in dealing with a positive on-site case.”
Mr Sharp said the hospital was undertaking contact tracing for all active cases in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, and any close contact would be contacted by the tracing team.
‘‘Please note, contact tracing is a time-consuming process and our team are working as fast as they can to complete this as quickly possible,’’ he said.
‘‘Further details regarding any community locations of concern will be provided once this information is known and if it represents a concern.”
Mr Sharp said that a number of people were waiting for COVID-19 results, and anyone who was a known close contact and had been tested must stay at home.
‘‘People should not present to the Acute Respiratory Clinic for COVID-19 testing unless they are contacted by a GV Health or the DHHS,’’ Mr Sharp said.
He said it was possible more people in Greater Shepparton would test positive for COVID-19 in the coming days.
Campaspe Shire has two known active COVID-19 cases, while Moira Shire and Strathbogie Shire do not have any.
Victoria recorded 410 new active cases and 21 deaths yesterday.
Anyone who is unwell with any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild, (such as fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny nose, loss of sense of smell), should get tested immediately and stay at home.
GV Health’s Acute Respiratory Clinic at Graham St, Shepparton, is open seven days a week from 8am to 5.30pm.
Any questions about COVID-19 should be directed to the coronavirus hotline on 1800338663, which is operational from 8am to 6pm, seven days a week.
9°C