The ‘really important’ factor an epidemiologist says will determine if COVID-19 spreads in Victoria

As Victoria scrambles to mitigate the risk of another COVID-19 outbreak, an epidemiologist says there’s one “really important” factor that will make a huge difference.

A Wollert man who completed hotel quarantine in Adelaide before returning home to Victoria tested positive yesterday.

He was out and about while infectious from May 6 to 8.

Chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, Catherine Bennett, says the contact tracing system is up to the task, but Victorians must come forward.

“It’s really important those people at those Tier 1 sites are coming forward, particularly if they haven’t QR coded and can’t be contacted by the Health Department,” she told Neil Mitchell.

“We’re relying on people to self-identify that they were there.”

Professor Bennett says there’s a “slightly higher” risk the virus will spread now than there would have been a month or two ago.

“There’s a complacency around not just QR codes but even wearing masks on trains,” she said.

“They’re the areas where we’ve probably got just a slightly higher risk than we would have had a month or two ago.”

She says the “next few days are the critical days”.

Press PLAY below for Professor Bennett’s analysis