Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told 3AW Radio on Thursday a cluster at the Hawthorn Grange aged care facility was under investigation, with extensive testing being conducted.
“I think we’ll get on top of that,” he said.
“We’ve identified those additional cases and tested across the board for residents and staff.
“[Aged care facilities] are places where you absolutely need to act down on it immediately and that really means extensive testing, including individuals with no symptoms.”
The state’s effort to test up to 100,000 people in two weeks has seen six new mobile coronavirus testing sites open across Melbourne today.
The new sites located at Bunnings West Footscray, Pacific Werribee, Pacific Epping, Watergardens Town Centre,
Westfield Fountain Gate and Bayside Shopping Centre in Frankston were due to begin conducting tests this morning.
It comes after four new mobile coronavirus testing sites opened yesterday at Chadstone, Doncaster, Highpoint and
Northland shopping centres – bringing the total so far to 10.
The seven new cases bring the state’s total tally to 1361, while the death toll remains at 18 after a woman in her 80s died on Tuesday.
The announcement of a new cluster comes after two dozen staff at a hospital in Melbourne’s west were put in self-quarantine.
A patient who attended Sunshine Hospital’s emergency department last Thursday tested positive for coronavirus.
The patient required urgent surgery but had no known symptoms of the virus.
The staff then developed a mild cough over the weekend and undertook a test for the virus, returning a positive result.
Western Health’s executive director operations Natasha Toohey said 24 hospital staff have entered self-quarantine as a precaution, with testing also underway.
No other patients had been in close contact with the infected person
“The safety of our staff is paramount and Western Health took immediate action in response to this positive result,” Toohey said.
The Learning Sanctuary childcare centre in Yarraville has been closed after a child tested positive for coronavirus.
The centre remains closed and will undergo extensive cleaning.
Contact tracing by health authorities is also underway.
