Victorian GPs urgently call for coronavirus location data as state braces for fresh surge

The state has seen more than 100 new cases in the past week, emerging in clusters across the Hume, Casey, Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin local government areas (LGAs), with most cases linked to community transmission.
 
But details are sparse on where, exactly, the cases are occurring, given the six LGAs cover large areas of Melbourne’s north-west and south-east.
 
RACGP Victoria Chair Dr Cameron Loy has called on the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to give GPs more geographic detail so they can protect themselves and conserve still-scarce supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE).
 
‘GPs would change their protocols very quickly if they knew there was an outbreak around them,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘If we had that geographic data, we would implement much stricter controls while patients are being assessed. Unless we know the prevalence in our towns and suburbs, we cannot appropriately implement PPE guidance.
 
‘We simply cannot do 100% universal protection for every person walking in – the infrastructure and funding are simply are not there. We need to appropriately target what we’re doing based on what’s happening in our communities.
 
‘It’s only with this information that we have a chance of protecting ourselves.’
 
The DHHS already supplies geographic data down to the affected street and suburb for outbreaks of some other diseases.
 
‘We get the suburb and street for Legionnaires [disease], but with COVID we get only a very large geographic area,’ Dr Loy said.
 
‘If there was a COVID-positive case in the town I work in it would help us enormously to know that, and it would help the community by protecting the patients who come to our clinic and the staff who work here.’ 
 
Privacy and anonymity would have to be protected in making more specific location information available, Dr Loy said.
 
Recently detected clusters include families in Coburg and Keilor Downs, as well as an outbreak linked to the Stamford Plaza Hotel, where returned travellers have been quarantined. The family-linked outbreaks span many different households, however.
 
Dr Loy said Commonwealth-level issues regarding the availability of PPE have also not been resolved.
 
‘In Victoria, as in other states, GPs are in the firing line. Even after all these months, we still have issues with PPE,’ he said.
 
‘My fear is that if it does get out of hand, we will once again be in a situation where GPs may be seeing the first patients in outbreaks without enough PPE supplies.
 
‘We’re expected to fend for ourselves [on PPE]. We are an important part of public health and this still remains an issue.’ 


The local council areas have been identified as coronavirus hotspots based on figures showing more than 83% of the new COVID-19 cases in Australia in the past seven days were recorded in Victoria.

The calls come as top health officials warn that the surge in new cases is a sign that infection-control principles, namely social distancing, are not being properly maintained.  
 
Many of the clusters have been associated with large family gatherings, leading Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy to warn that some Victorians have not been taking social distancing seriously.
 
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee ‘strongly discourages’ travel to and from the six affected LGAs for non-essential reasons until the Victorian Government can suppress the spread of community transmission in those municipalities.
 
Victoria’s new cases are the highest they have been in more than two months. The state’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said that more than half of the new cases are linked to transmission within families.
 
‘People have not followed our advice around physical distancing, hygiene and limiting the number of people you invite into your home,’ he said.
 
In response, the State Government has clamped down on home gatherings, with the maximum number of guests cut to five, and 10 for outdoor gatherings.
 
The planned boost to restaurant, café and pub patron limits has been suspended, meaning the limit remains at 20.
 
The planned reopening of gyms, cinemas, indoor sports centres and concert venues has still gone ahead, with a 20-person limit.
 
Dr Loy said that at the start of the first wave of the pandemic he had fully expected he would have to write dozens of condolence letters to the families of frontline GPs who had died, given how dangerous the virus has been to doctors in other countries.
 
‘The actions that the Chief Health Officer and his unit took meant that I don’t have to do that. Public health control of this pandemic has been exceptional. It has saved lives,’ he said. 
 
‘Victoria has had a more conservative and restrictive approach to COVID than other states. It’s my expectation that they are going to do everything they can to continue that trend.’
 
In response to the possible second wave, Dr Loy quoted top US medico Dr Anthony Fauci: ‘Outside is better than inside, no crowds are better than crowds, and small crowds are better than large crowds.’ 
 
‘Family gatherings count as a crowd,’ Dr Loy said.
 
The latest figures have prompted the Victorian Government to extend the state of emergency until 19 July. State Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said she has concerns around people paying visits even though they have mild symptoms.
 
‘We have had particularly some concerns around family gatherings, extended family members across many households visiting each other even when they have been exhibiting mild symptoms,’ she said.
 
Police will once again be monitoring social restrictions in force.
 
Queensland will now require any visiting Victorian to undergo 14 days of self-quarantine, while South Australia has not ruled out keeping its borders closed.
 
The DHHS did not respond to requests for comment.
 
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