Tier 2 exposure sites were removed more than a month ago, and the number of publicly listed Tier 1 sites was lowered as the Department of Health switched to directly contacting people who had been at the same venue as a positive case in instances where everyone could be identified quickly.
During the past four to six weeks, the overwhelming majority of exposure sites listed on the Department of Health’s website have been in regional areas, despite regional Victoria accounting for just five to 10 per cent of the number of cases across the state.
Mr Weimar, who visited Shepparton on Thursday, said contact tracing would be done through workplaces and social connections moving forward, which would cause a “shifting approach” on listing and identifying exposure sites.
“What we’re seeing is in the last four or five weeks we’re focusing on direct contact tracing and focusing in on those positive cases,” he said.
“We have a far reduced focus on exposure sites and increasingly are only focusing on those high-risk exposure sites such as health services, schools, aged care facilities —and those aren’t published openly.”
Mr Weimar said with the virus freely circulating in the community it was no longer feasible to list every site.
He said it made it even more important to be using the QR code system, and to ensure only fully vaccinated people were admitted to venues — with people who are fully vaccinated far less likely to both catch and transmit the virus.
“As we saw here in Shepparton in August, if you list every single exposure site where every single case has been, you rapidly start to close down too much of our economy,” he said.
He said deep cleans of venues were also on the way out: “We no longer need to shut down facilities for days on end to do a deep clean.”
Mr Weimar also said Department of Health rapid response testing teams would help communities get on top of outbreaks such as Shepparton’s in August, Ballarat’s in September and Albury-Wodonga’s currently.
“Going forward again we’ll see fewer outbreaks and smaller outbreaks but we will see positive cases in the community,” he said.
“I expect to see more cases over the weeks and months ahead before it dips.”
He said the Department of Health would continue to provide access to testing, while the addition of rapid antigen testing would also allow people to monitor themselves for symptoms in an easier manner.
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