A hotel quarantine security guard and ride share driver who plunged Perth into lockdown was probably infectious for five days before he tested positive to Covid-19, authorities believe.
And during the time he was infectious, he visited 15 locations across Perth – including a Coles, KFC, hair dresser, halal grocery store and Indian consulate – leaving contact tracers in Western Australia scrambling to locate all potential contacts.
The security guard, who is aged in his 20s and from the inner-suburb of Maylands, became the first instance of community transmission in the state in 10 months when he tested positive to the virus on Saturday night.
The government’s response has been a five-day lockdown for Perth, Peel and South West regions.
Health authorities have now identified 60 close contacts of the security guard, who have been told to self-isolate for two weeks.
The man was working at the Sheraton Four Points hotel, as a number of returned Australians or permanent residents were confirmed to have contracted the highly-infectious UK or South African Covid strain.
The guard worked two 12-hour shifts on January 26 and 27 on the same floor where there were four active Covid cases – including two with the highly contagious UK variant and one with the South African strain of the virus.
The man, who is aged in his 20s and from Maylands, was working as a security guard at Sheraton Four Points hotel
Health authorities have listed 15 venues, on top of Sheraton Four Points hotel, as potential exposure sites after they were visited by the security guard. Pictured: Map shows venues the positive Covid case visited
The man, who claims he was wearing PPE while working at the hotel, returned negative results as part of routine testing on January 15, 17 and 23 but started to become unwell last Thursday – January 28 – and called in sick for his shift that day.
Western Australia’s chief health officer Andy Robertson said the security guard was most likely infectious from January 26 – five days before his positive test result came through on Saturday night.
The man went to KFC, Coles, Chemist Warehouse and a Halal grocery store after falling ill.
He also visited Consulate general of India, Venus ladies and gentleman hair design and Perth Convention Centre while potentially infectious.
Health authorities have listed 15 venues as potential exposure sites after they were visited by the security guard.
Residents who visited any of the locations at specific dates and times have been told to get tested immediately and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
Shoppers are seen outside Coles in Maylands, one of the potential exposure sites in Perth, on Sunday
The venues are spread across the suburbs of Maylands, Midland, Morley, Cloverdale, Burswood, North Perth, Perth and Nedlands.
The man has a second job as a ride share driver but authorities said he had not worked in that role since January 22.
He has three housemates who have all tested negative to Covid-19. They have all been placed in hotel quarantine for 14 days.
Authorities are investigating the breach but say the guard did not enter a hotel room.
Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said the coming days would be ‘quite critical’ as 60 close contacts of the security guard have been identified.
It’s suspected the man caught the UK Covid strain.
‘We call him case 903. This is a person who… we suspect has got the UK variant strain but that will be confirmed in the next 36 hours,’ Mr Dawson told 6PR Radio on Monday.
‘If he has that more transmissible (strain) then that’s what’s causing us the concern.’
A staff member from the Covid-19 Clinic at Perth Royal Hospital speaks to a member of the public on Sunday as residents rush to get tested
Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson was unable to judge whether there was likely to have been community spread.
‘We do get super-spreaders within Covid-19,’ he said.
‘But we’ve also had others like the 20-year-old lady in Queensland who was out in the community for three or four days and didn’t manage to spread it to anybody.’
Premier Mark McGowan declared a state of emergency on Sunday and ordered roughly 80 per cent of the state’s population to stay at home except for four essential reasons.
The lockdown is in place until 6pm on Friday.
As per the lockdown orders, residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for four reasons; shopping for essential goods like groceries and medicine, seeking medical treatment, exercise for one hour per day and work if a person cannot work remotely.
All pubs, clubs, playgrounds and gyms in Perth will close, while restaurants will be open for takeaway only and visits will be banned to care homes and hospitals.
Perth, Peel and the South West entered a strict lockdown beginning 6pm on Sunday and lasting until Friday – impacting about 80 per cent of WA’s population
Schools will remain closed – they were supposed to reopen on Monday for the first day of the year.
Restrictions have also been reintroduced for funerals – limiting them to just 10 people for the duration of lockdown.
Weddings have been cancelled during the lockdown period.
Residents must wear face masks at all times they are outside and they are also compulsory at indoor workplaces.
Masks are mandatory on public transport.
Anybody within the locked down regions were urged to stay put to avoid potentially spreading the virus to regional and vulnerable communities.
Mr McGowan warned ‘we can expect that they will become positive in coming days’.
Source link