SA aged care worker tests positive for COVID – three months after first infection in Victoria

Is this a sign of how long the virus can linger in your system?

Victorian and South Australian health authorities say the woman tested positive for the virus in early August after volunteering to work in aged care in Melbourne in early August.

The worker isolated during August and was cleared of having the virus later that month but tested positive this week in South Australia as part of its entry screening processes despite showing no symptoms.

The individual had not worked in aged care since mid-October, but the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has taken a cautious approach to the case, asking people who were at Melbourne’s Central train station or airport at the same time to be alert for symptoms and seek testing if they become unwell.

“The case is likely to represent intermittent shedding following a previous infection but through an abundance of caution, and while further investigations are underway, the public health response across the two jurisdictions will align,” they said in a statement.

Victoria recorded its 13th straight day with no new cases and no deaths yesterday.