THE Department of Health and Human Services has admitted an “automatic geocoding error” for listing a new active case of COVID-19 in Mildura on Tuesday.
The DHHS media unit contacted Sunraysia Daily on Tuesday night to admit a mistake had been made.
“There are no new Mildura cases today,” the DHHS statement said on Tuesday night. “There was one new case reported this morning on the public report and that was an automatic geocoding error.”
It is the second time this month that a case initially listed by the DHHS to be Mildura’s sixth was later no longer attributed to the region.
Sunraysia Daily’s Wednesday print edition had already gone to press by the time the DHHS update arrived on Tuesday night, leaving it with an incorrect story that a new case had been linked to Mildura.
But the DHHS update will revert Mildura’s total number of cases back to five with zero active cases.
There were five new cases announced in Victoria on Tuesday, with three of those detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
One was detected through community testing unrelated to any known outbreak, and another was detected in a resident at an aged-care facility in Caulfield.
A woman who had travelled from Victoria was also announced as South Australia’s newest case on Tuesday, although authorities said she was tested on arrival at Adelaide Airport.
Those who have been close contacts of confirmed cases are contacted by the state health department and provided with information and support.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said now was not the time for complacency.
“Today’s increase in cases illustrates once again that while we have been flattening the curve, our battle against COVID-19 is far from over,” Prof Sutton said.
“Restrictions around some activities have now been eased in Victoria in recognition of the current low rate of community transmission of this virus.
“While encouraging, we need to remain vigilant.
“It is increasingly important that we stay at home when unwell and get tested, wash our hands regularly, sneeze and cough into our elbow and maintain physical distancing.
“These are common sense actions to ensure we don’t create a second wave of this serious disease, as we have seen in other countries once they have eased their stringent regulations.”
Victorians were asked to get tested if they have symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, to help add to the data on the prevalence of the coronavirus in the community.
“People with even the mildest of symptoms of coronavirus including fever, chills, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose or loss of sense of smell are encouraged to get tested,” Prof Sutton said.
