Esther Lauaki
By Esther Lauaki and The Age
Mystery COVID cases which could have originated in Caroline Springs, Deer Park and Braybrook have health authorities concerned as the state’s rolling daily average stalls.
Three new mystery cases were identified in the postcodes of 3023 and 3019, which take in the suburbs of Caroline Springs, Deer Park and Braybrook.
The postcode 3145, covering East Malvern and Caulfield East, was another area of concern as Victoria recorded 12 new cases of coronavirus and one new death linked to aged care on Sunday.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he was “absolutely” worried by the stagnation in dropping active cases at the weekend, but that fewer aged care cases should ensure lower numbers over coming days.
“Obviously it will be reflected with the fact that there have only been a dozen cases that have completed their infectious period that are no longer considered cases, and we’ve got 12 new ones,” Professor Sutton said.
“But we need to drive it down … the activity in aged care continues to drop, especially for residents, but also for staff as well. This will slowly but surely reduce active cases.
“Mystery cases or cases of unknown origin remain a concern.”
The average number of cases diagnosed in the 14 days to Sunday for metropolitan Melbourne dropped to 11.9 , while regional Victoria dropped to 0.2.
Brimbank, still considered a coronavirus hotspot, had 37 active cases on Sunday.
There are still active outbreaks at Estia Aged Care facility in Keilor with 29 still infected (47 cases total) and Edenvale Manor Aged Care facility in Keilor East with 12 (23 cases total)
Three more cases are linked to an outbreak at Sunshine hospital.
