Exposure Sites Confusion Cleared

Have you heard that a positive COVID case attended a venue you frequent?

Can’t find information relating to this incident? Wondering why the business is not being publicly listed as an exposure site?

This might help….

Exposure sites are generally identified through contact tracing, where the person provides a detailed history of their contacts and places they visited up to three days before they developed symptoms (or tested positive, if they didn’t have any symptoms).

Our contact tracers carry out risk assessments to classify exposure sites. These risk assessments determine whether a particular place is a high, medium or low risk setting for transmission.

Typically, settings that constitute one or more of the ‘three Cs’ are considered high-risk:
• crowded places (indoors carry a greater risk than outdoors)
• close-contact settings (especially where people have close-range conversations, such as in a bar)
• confined and enclosed spaces (this specifically refers to indoor spaces with poor ventilation)

In determining how to classify a site, health experts will also consider the amount of time the positive case spent there.

Finally, the risk level of the site may be influenced by the nature of the location and the sort of activity the positive case conducted there.

Please remember that Tier 2 exposure sites are not being prioritised or listed. There is no evidence of virus transmission at a Tier 2 site in Gippsland.

If you notice a business that you have visited self-identify; remain vigilant, continue to practice COVIDSafe behaviours and test only if you experience symptoms. While you are doing this, contact tracers are busy at work assessing the exposure risk.

If the site is classified a Tier 2, it will not be listed and close contacts will not be contacted. If it is listed a Tier 1 and all close contacts at high risk (who were in close proximity to the positive case) cannot be identified, the site will be publicly listed to prompt a call to action to get tested and isolate.

If all close contacts can be identified at a Tier 1 exposure site, the site will not be publicly listed and these people will be directly managed by the Department of Health.