Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, is calling for calm in the Orbost and Marlo areas following news of a potential COVID-19 outbreak earlier this week, but is also urging government departments to act more swiftly to alert local residents of the danger.
Mr Bull said as of noon today, a number of businesses in which the 25-year-old infected Melbourne resident attended during her visit over the weekend, had yet to be contacted by the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the need for testing and cleaning advice.
He said contact tracing was remarkably slow at time community members and businesses want answers fast.
“While the behaviour of the people that came into the town is completely unacceptable and inappropriate and they should face the full force of the law, it’s important that the Orbost community, which they are doing, approaches this in a calm manner,” Mr Bull said.
“We need common sense to prevail and the majority of the community are certainly doing that.
“Where we are falling down and what is disappointing is that businesses have not been contacted as yet and these are businesses we’ve known since Monday afternoon that these people visited.
“They have been working with the department contact tracers and it’s very disappointing that four days later these businesses have had no contact at all.”
Mr Bull said he recognises the pressure the government is under, however said it should be reaching out for all the support it can get improve response times.
“I understand that the department and government agencies are very busy, but if they need more resources they should be asking for them,” he said.
“This is a situation that has the potential to have wider ramifications in our region and this contact with local businesses is a very, very important part of controlling what has occurred.
“I have spoken to people within the department at the higher levels to request that this take place, that contact be made urgently. I did that on Wednesday lunch time, but we still haven’t had businesses contacted.”
