South West Healthcare CEO Craig Fraser 'concerned' after 12 new COVID cases confirmed across four households

South West Healthcare's chief executive officer Craig Fraser said this morning he was 'concerned' after confirming 12 new COVID cases had been recorded in Warrnambool, taking the total number of active cases in the city to 17.

Mr Fraser said he could not provide any further detail on how exactly the transmissions had occurred.

"I'll leave that up to the public health unit to discuss that but remember we still as a community are allowed to move freely in regional Victoria and also meet with people outside," he said.

"It also shows how contagious it is between people and their contacts."

Mr Fraser said the sudden spike in infections and the speed of transmission was concerning.

"I'm concerned because until we get to a point where the positives stop coming through, we're really not sure how far it has spread and how quickly," he said.

"The concern is it has spread very quickly and we've seen that across the state.

"We're in a situation where it's gone past the start we're starting to get a big number of cases coming through, we're not quite sure how far it will go from here so we're in a really critical time."

While Mr Fraser did not comment on whether the figures were high enough to trigger a lockdown for the city, he told The Standard the number of new cases made the option "more likely" considering a number of today's new infections had not been isolating before returning a positive result.

"Most (were isolating) but not all," he said.

"There was some movement because they weren't aware at that point either."

He said due to patterns of movement in the community, cases were "likely" to increase.

"I do believe that they will rise," he said.

"I would expect the cases will continue to grow and that's why this is really serious for Warrnambool and surrounds."

But South West Healthcare's COVID coordinator Sue Anderton said while cases may have been moving around while infectious, none had broken stay-at-home order while confirmed as positive.

She said South West Healthcare's patient monitoring team was continually checking on the health status of COVID-positive individuals while the public health unit was enforcing public health orders.

Ms Anderton said amid the uncertainty of the current situation, the most important thing residents could do was get tested and get vaccinated.

She said about 800 people lined up at Friendly Societies' Park testing site yesterday, where current testing turnaround times were 24 to 48 hours.

However, with the record-high number of COVID cases recorded across the state today, turnaround times are expected to get longer.

Mr Fraser said the hospital was looking at opening a second testing site.

"We are going to try and contain it as best we can. We are looking at opening a second clinic possibly tomorrow, but we are seeing how today goes in terms of defining those exposure points."

The hospital also confirmed Warrnambool IGA as an exposure point for the following estimated times:

Mr Fraser said because of the number of exposures, residents should stop unnecessary travel.

"The final thing from me this morning is to say to the people in the Warrnambool community please stop moving around, this is serious and please remember there are some key things we need to go back to really quickly.

"Number one is stop your discretionary travel where you can. Wear your masks, hand hygiene, don't visit other people's residences is really important at the moment."

EARLIER:

Warrnambool has recorded 12 new local COVID-19 cases overnight, as Victoria reports a record 1438 daily cases.

The growing Warrnambool outbreak has spread across four households, with 17 active cases in isolation.

South West Healthcare CEO Craig Fraser said some of the 12 new cases were in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period, but others were out in the community.

At this stage it is unclear how the households are linked.

"It's concerning and we believe (cases) will rise," Mr Fraser said.

Mr Fraser believes case numbers will rise tomorrow.

"This is really serious for Warrnambool and surrounds," he said.

"If you are not in Warrnambool at the moment, don't come here."

He added that any active cases whose symptoms became more severe would be redirected to Barwon Health, rather than being treated at Warrnambool Base Hospital.

Mr Fraser indicated that if a snap lockdown occurred it would be announced by the chief health officer at a state press conference.

The spike in local cases came as Melbourne set a new statewide case record, with daily numbers jumping nearly 50 per cent to 1438.

MORE TO COME.

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