OUYEN is nervously waiting to find out if COVID has spread through the community after a case linked to the town’s only supermarket was recorded last week.
The Mildura local government area recorded a total of 28 cases over the weekend. Sunraysia Daily understands that none of these has been linked to the Mallee, but this has not been officially confirmed.
Ouyen Inc chairman Scott Anderson told Sunraysia Daily on Sunday it was hard to gauge community reaction to the infection news because residents were doing the right thing and avoiding social contact, but he said most people had expected cases to emerge sooner or later.
“We’ve all been keeping our heads down,” Mr Anderson said. “It is obviously a concern, though.”
He said he was disappointed there had been no Victorian Government announcements regarding potential exposure sites, causing confusion in the town.
It is understood IGA supermarket management made the decision to close and deep-clean after a case visited there.
“People don’t know if they should be worried because they were there on a certain day,” Mr Anderson said. “People shouldn’t have to rely on finding out from information going around town.”
The town had coped with lockdown fairly well, however, many people making use of its recreational lake, opened in 2018, as an exercise venue.
“There’s certainly lots of room there for people to do their exercise. People make very good use of it,” Mr Anderson said.
Min Poole, a former Mildura deputy mayor who now lives in Ouyen, said she believed about 60 local people had had COVID-19 tests on Saturday in response to the news of an infection.
She said the town’s three service stations had been able to supply most shoppers with essentials while the supermarket had been closed, and the Salvation Army had also made food available.
“We have a lot of people come in from outlying areas, of course, so it would have been hardest for them,” she said.
