[LINK] COVIDSafe app

[Stephen Loosley]

Hmm .. a COVIDSafe app telling us when the covid virus was here recently would be popular


“Apartment residents raise alarm over Victorian advice on communal areas”

By Michael Fowler  July 15, 2020  https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/apartment-residents-raise-alarm-over-victorian-advice-on-communal-areas-20200714-p55bu0.html


A group of Melbourne apartment residents has raised the alarm over a Victorian policy that allows people with coronavirus to use communal areas of their apartment complex, saying they fear the policy could result in the virus spreading through high-density buildings.

Advice from the Victorian Health Department is less strict than federal advice for apartment residents who contract coronavirus.

The federal government says those in apartments should not go outside beyond their balcony, while the Victorian directive says it is safe to "go outside into the garden" if wearing a mask.

You should, however, go quickly through any common areas on the way to the garden," the Victorian instruction says. "Wear a surgical mask if you have to move through these areas."

While experts say the risk of spreading the virus through apartment buildings is low if infected individuals respect the rules, John Rosenberg, the head of the owners' group of an apartment block in South Melbourne, said the group was alarmed by the advice.

"It gives authority for someone to leave their apartment and go through common areas, which is of great concern to me and my fellow residents," said Professor Rosenberg, a former deputy vice-chancellor of Deakin and La Trobe universities.

"Our communal facilities are on our rooftop. To get in an elevator knowingly with someone who's tested positive, even if they're wearing a mask – I don't think we should have to take that on."

Associate Professor Hassan Vally, a public health expert from La Trobe University, said the advice was probably aimed at striking a balance between protecting apartment residents and offering some personal freedom to people with coronavirus.

"I'm not sure a positive case should be travelling outside their apartment unless they absolutely have to, then if they do they should absolutely be wearing a mask," Professor Vally said.

"But if the government becomes prescriptive and strict about these things then people complain because their living conditions become unbearable, to be completely locked away in an apartment." ..

"My concern totally is the welfare of the people in my building, and other apartment buildings. If we're in this second wave, more cases in apartment blocks are bound to happen and I'd hope the virus isn't being spread unnecessarily."

The City of Melbourne local government area, which includes areas with high numbers of apartment buildings such as the CBD and Southbank, has the equal third-highest number of active cases, with 209 as of Wednesday.

It also includes the North Melbourne portion of the nine public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington that have recorded 247 cases.

The Department of Health and Human Services has been contacted for comment.

Professor Nigel McMillan, an infectious diseases expert from Griffith University, said the risk of a positive case spreading the virus in an apartment building could never be zero but if communal facilities were regularly cleaned the risk was low. "If you know you're sharing a building with a positive case I think those precautions of social distancing and hand hygiene became extra important for all parties," he said.