Save articles for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

The Victorian parliamentary inquiry into contact tracing resumes on Wednesday with evidence from a dozen witnesses including Chief Scientist Alan Finkel and Cedar Meats owner Tony Kairouz.

Dr Finkel, who is scheduled as the first witness, has conducted a review of the nation's contact tracing and gave evidence at a senate inquiry recently that he believed all jurisdictions had improved their capability during Victoria's second wave.

This story will be updated with news through the day and you can watch a livestream of the inquiry here (it is due to begin at 9am):



Cedar Meats was a focal point during the panemic's early months after a number of its staff and their families were infected with coronavirus and it became largest coronavirus outbreak of the state’s first wave. More than 110 people connected with the abattoir were infected in the outbreak.

The Age revealed last week that the Victorian Health Department allowed workers at the Cedar Meats abattoir to return to work while waiting on COVID-19 tests during contact tracing efforts in May.

In its submission to the inquiry the company described evidence given by former health minister Jenny Mikakos to another parliamentary inquiry in May as "factually incorrect".

Ms Mikakos told the committee the company took several days to hand over information about who visited the site.

Ms Mikakos, who resigned in September, wrote to Mr Kairouz in August explaining her evidence.

She acknowledged the company handed over timely information but said contact details were sometimes out of date or lacking full names, meaning the process took longer than anticipated and hampered contact tracing.

A Health Department spokeswoman said last week the department stood by the evidence it gave to the inquiry.

The Cedar Meats outbreak, which prompted a WorkSafe inquiry, put the spotlight on Victoria's contact tracing system during the first wave of COVID-19 infections. About 10 days after the abattoir was closed, the Andrews government announced a $20 million rapid-response team to handle high-risk outbreaks.

More to come

Most Viewed in National

Source: Read Full Article