Following yesterday’s announcement regarding members of the Carey Baptist Grammar School community and Covid-19 (Coronavirus), Football Victoria (FV) wishes to advise of the following update.
Yesterday, in collaboration with the Department of Health, we understand Carey conducted a thorough review of the potential initial exposure to its community members. The review concluded that some people were deemed to have had close contact with diagnosed staff members whilst others had casual contact with them.
Close contact is defined as someone who has been face to face for at least 15 minutes or been in the same closed space for at least two hours with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when that person was infectious. The Department of Health has now directly contacted all individuals identified as casual contacts (including parents of students) and have actioned appropriate management with these people.
Casual contact is defined as someone who has been face to face for less than fifteen minutes or has been in the same closed space for less than two hours with someone who has tested positive for COVID–19, when that person was infectious. The School has now directly contacted all individuals identified on this list (including parents of students) and have actioned appropriate management with these people.
Please see the attached link to the DHHS website confirming the above definitions and other advice to the public https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/victorian-public-coronavirus-disease-covid-19.
Therefore, and on the basis of the outcomes of Carey’s review today, FV permits Carey Baptist Grammar School students and their siblings/families who had either no or casual contact with diagnosed staff members to participate in FV games, competitions, training or events effective immediately.
FV also understands that other schools have been closed today and in this instance – and in any other instance for any organisation – the above definitions and protocols apply until further notice.
FV will continue to monitor this rapidly evolving situation on a daily basis and will provide updates on our website should this position change.
Further, we have received a number of questions over the last few days, and while it is not practical to respond to every question, we're able to provide the following responses at this time:
- All clubs and individuals should continue to monitor advice from the appropriate authorities – for example the DHHS link above;
- At this stage, all FV competitions are continuing / commencing;
- A number of questions relate to hypothetical scenarios – given the advice from the appropriate authorities is continually evolving, it is not practical for FV to respond to these myriad potential scenarios; and
- If players have been excluded from elite pathway trials (e.g. TIDC programs) for a period of time, FV will use its best endeavours to ensure there is no disadvantage to those players and they will be given other opportunities to trial.