Tara Murray
Seven new cases have been linked to the COVID-19 outbreak at CS Square in Caroline Springs.
The entire shopping centre has been deemed a tier two site between July 27 and August 5, and a testing site has been set up at the nearby leisure centre to help people get tested.
Victorian covid commander Jeroen Weimar this morning said that of 11 new cases announced today, seven were linked to the shopping centre.
Five of the new cases are household members of a real estate agent, who was a positive case on Sunday.
One of the new cases is a household member of a staff member from the Jolly Miller, who had previously been announced, the other case is a customer from the Spectacle Hub.
A staff member who works at the Spectacle Hub was the first case at the centre.
Mr Weimar said there were so far 400 close contacts connected to the centre, with two-thirds returning negative tests.
The Jolly Miller, Pacific Smiles Dental, BWS, Woolworths, Nandos, Target, Better Home, Aldi, Fantastic Home and Gifts, Caroline Springs Pharmacy, Spectacle Hub, male toilets near Aldi and the De Barber House are among the tier one sites in the centre.
Mr Weimar said the entire centre had been deemed a tier two site between July 27 and August 5. Anyone who was at the centre on those days needs to get tested and isolate until they get a negative result.
“We are quite concerned about the number of positive cases now identified from different stores and associated with different movements in the shopping centre,” he said.
“As we’ve seen before here in Victoria, we do need to ensure that we run those little outbreaks down.
“Please come forward and get tested and nail down any other transmission.”
Mr Weimar said that a testing site was now operating at the shopping centre to help people get tested.
For more on the exposure site: www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites
