News / Covid-19

More Brunswick exposure sites identified

Four shops at Barkly Square were visited by a Covid-positive person on Saturday afternoon

Mark Phillips
Saturday, May 29, 2021

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The number of Brunswick sites linked to Melbourne’s Covid-19 outbreak has grown to three.

Barkly Square shopping centre was named as a Tier 2 exposure site by the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday afternoon, a day after an indoor soccer centre in Victoria Street was forced to undergo a deep clean after it too was identified as an exposure site.

It has been joined by the Albion Street Dan Murphy liquor outlet, which was added to the list on Friday.

In a statement posted on its website, Barkly Square management said it had been advised that a Covid-positive person had visited the popular Sydney Road shopping centre between 1.15pm and 2.30pm last Saturday, May 22.

The individual is understood to have attended Priceline Pharmacy, OPSM, Kmart and Woolworths. The OPSM store had a second exposure between 3.45pm and 4.15pm the same day. Anyone who visited any of those stores during that time is advised to get tested urgently and isolate until they receive the results of the test.

DHHS has now also confirmed the Albion Street Dan Murphy store as a Tier 2 exposure site between 2.30pm and 3pm on Saturday. The DHHS notification came more than 24 hours after widespread sharing on social media sites of a notice affixed to the front doors of the store which said it was closed on Thursday morning to carry out a detailed deep clean. The store was open again on Thursday afternoon.

At Barkly Square, the impacted retailers were told that any staff who may have been in close contact with the individual should isolate for 14 days, and their tenancies would undergo a comprehensive deep clean.

“Centre management continues to monitor the situation, and are following all relevant advice and guidance by the Department of Health and Human Services with regards to COVID-19,” the statement issued by Barkly Square said.

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers, retailers and the community is always our priority.

“We are currently implementing additional disinfection of the centre in line with relevant health authority guidelines and continue to monitor and act upon recommendations from the health department.”

It is believed that the person was a young child who was part of a private group using a rear court at the centre, and did not come into contact with any of the centre’s staff.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page at 5.56pm on Tuesday, stadium management said it had been given the all clear to reopen for regular match fixtures after deep cleaning had been completed. Staff had been tested for Covid and were self-isolating until the results were known.

Two of the other new sites announced by the DHHS are in the same building in Nicholson Street, slightly north of Moreland Road. A positive case attended the Nicholson Coffee House between 12pm and 1pm on Saturday and the IGA supermarket between 2.30pm and 2.50pm the same day.

The new IGA supermarket at the Pentridge project is also an exposure site, having been visited by a case between 6.45pm and 7.25pm on Monday. All three are Tier 2 sites.

Concerns about a new outbreak escalated on Friday when the Department of Health testing detected picked up traces of COVID-19 in wastewater around the Epping and Wollert area.

A full public health response and extensive contact tracing has been launched with the number of active cases now numbering 49.

Anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 — such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, chills or sweats, or change in sense of smell or taste — is advised to get a test immediately. A full list of testing sites is available here.

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