SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
And joining us now is Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd. Michael, good morning to you. Now, of the 70-odd cases recorded every day in Melbourne many are via community transmission. How concerning is that to you and your team?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes, clearly we're very concerned about what's happening in Melbourne at this time. We're also very heartened by the very vigorous response that we've seen underway in Victoria. Obviously, we're moving through the three stage process of testing - testing very widely, I understand there were over 26,000 tests carried out in Melbourne yesterday. The contact tracing, the very extensive teams of contact tracers which we have are now engaged - both in Victoria but also with additional support from other states and from the Commonwealth. And the process of isolation, and we've sent many people, of course, getting tested and then going into isolation.
NATALIE BARR:
Yes. Professor Kidd, we've got this man from Bangladesh who went into quarantine in Melbourne, tested positive. He was allowed to leave after 10 days, flew to Sydney then tested positive and now has forced other people into quarantine from that Balmain store. Do we need to revisit the rules for hotel quarantine down there?
MICHAEL KIDD:
Yes, so we still are waiting for further details of that particular case. And what I do want to say is that the response that we've seen in New South Wales is very appropriate and responsible in making sure that we're not going to have any further transmission occurring from that particular individual. The normal process when someone is diagnosed as positive with COVID-19 is they do have a 10-day period when they're required to be in strict isolation. As long as someone has been three days without symptoms then they're deemed to no longer be infectious to other people. Now, I don't know what the circumstances were with that individual, obviously we'll hear more about that through the day.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE:
Okay. So now we've got school holidays in many states, people starting to move around. Does that concern you? And what is the advice for people who've been in contact with these people who are already spreading it to other states?
MICHAEL KIDD:
I think that particularly for those in the lockdown areas, obviously any plans they had to travel are now not going to happen because that's not allowed. I think everyone else needs to be very cautious - this is probably a time to be having a holiday at home rather than heading off interstate.
NATALIE BARR:
Yes. Good advice, Professor Kidd, and hopefully everyone will listen to it. Thank you very much for your time this morning.
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