Several businesses in the tourist town of Halls Gap will be shut for at least the next eight days, following confirmation a person who later tested positive for COVID-19 visited last weekend.
Overnight, the Grampians Public Health Unit confirmed there were five businesses listed as tier 1 exposure sites in the town of 400, and one in the nearby major centre of Stawell.
The announcement comes after an infected person from another area of regional Victoria that is not in lockdown visited the region from last Friday to Sunday.
Eight businesses have now closed in Halls Gap as a precaution.
'It's best to be cautious'
Will Hudson is the joint owner of two businesses — Livefast Café and Paper Scissors Rock Brewery — that are now exposure sites.
"The person who tested positive had been in contact with one of the businesses who asked where else she had been and they distributed that information to the rest of us, and we had to make up our own mind about what we had to do."
Mr Hudson said he found out about the positive case on Tuesday morning, after the café had already opened.
"I could assess what other businesses in town that open later in the day were doing, and it seemed the right thing to do to fall in line and be on the cautious side of things," he said.
"We are awaiting results of all the staff that were on that day, there are other staff that probably don't need to get tested that weren't there at the time."
All six locations are tier 1 exposure sites, meaning anyone who was there must get tested and isolate for 14 days from the date it was an exposure site, even if they test negative.
Mr Hudson said at least half the café's staff were working at the venue while the positive case visited.
"It's not the worst timing in the world, we got through school holidays and Halls Gap at the moment is going through a lull with everyone back at school, but it is still a bit of a hit to business and a waiting game."
Health service calls for patience
On Wednesday, 140 people turned out to Stawell Regional Health to get tested, compared to only 30 the day before.
CEO Kate Pryde says the health service has moved the swabbing clinic back to Stawell Tennis Centre, where it was for the most recent COVID scare in the town last month.
"We got absolutely smashed when the news broke," she told ABC Wimmera Radio this morning.
"You can only commend the community at Halls Gap for undertaking what they did.
"We'll probably process up to 200 tests over the next couple of days, and it will depend on what those tests show.
"If regrettably there is transmission and we have more positive cases, then that tends to set up other exposure sites and the testing cascades from there."
