Epidemiologist says COVID-19 transmission via ‘fleeting contact’ is not new

An epidemiologist says transmission via “fleeting contact”, one of the factors used to justify the lockdown extension, is nothing new.

Professorial Fellow in Epidemiology at Melbourne University, Professor Tony Blakely, says it’s likely COVID-19 spread via fleeting contact is just being picked up now because of better contact tracing.

“We’re now working out some of these transmissions because the contact tracing is so much better … but it was also probably happening last year,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“Fleeting was probably happening last year, it’s happening now but it is a more infectious variant.”

Two cases previously identified as spreading via fleeting contact have since been declared false positives, but there are still six cases spread that way which are of concern.

But Professor Blakely is optimistic about where the outbreak is heading.

“I think the needle is shifting back again towards maybe we’ll get out of this lockdown sooner rather than later,” he said.

Press PLAY below for more of Professor Blakely’s thoughts on Victoria’s outbreak