By Brendan Rees and Cam Lacadou-Wells
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) says it’s investigating two cases of coronavirus linked to staff members at a Cranbourne abattoir.
A DHHS spokesperson said Wagstaff abattoirs had been closed since 29 August, and undergone a deep clean.
It comes as DHHS reported it was “investigating cases” linked the Thompson Road facility on Thursday 3 September.
“All staff have been tested and the majority of tests have come back negative so far. Close contacts will be required to isolate for 14 days and the facility will be closed for two weeks,” the spokesperson said.
“Abattoirs and meat processing plants are known to be high-risk for disease spread and have been the settings for large scale outbreaks across the world. Once the virus gets in, an outbreak can spread rapidly.
“We’re working closely with the agriculture and meat processing industry to design and implement extra safety precautions aimed at protecting staff and slowing the spread of coronavirus in these facilities.”
A Wagstaff spokesperson said all production staff had ceased operation but declined to provide further details.
Ten new cases were recorded in Casey in the 24 hours to 3 September – with its active case tally now at 121.
The state’s total has 2295 active cases, including 337 active cases of infected health care workers.
There have been 15 new deaths from Covid-19 reported in the in the 24 hours to 3 September.
They include four men in their 80’s, three women in their 80’s, two men in their 90’s and six women in their 90’s. Nine of the 15 deaths occurred prior to Wednesday 2 September.
To date, 591 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.
In Neighbouring local government areas Greater Dandenong has 85 active cases and Cardinia 26.
State-wide three paramedics are currently recovering after testing positive to Covid-19, and a total of 31 paramedics are off work.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has identified Casey Greater Dandenong and as Covid-19 hotspots due to a rising proportion of positive tests.
Professor Sutton said on 2 September that Casey and Greater Dandenong council areas – along with Wyndham, Brimbank and Hume – were “more of a concern in recent days”.
Known aged care clusters have been recorded at Outlook Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong North, Estia Health Keysborough, and Mercy Place Dandenong.An ongoing outbreak of 45 cases has also been linked to Dandenong South truck manufacturer Vawdrey Australia.