Act fast, stop COVID: The successful implementation of the first decentralised Victorian COVID-19 contact tracing and monitoring unit.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the operational model, epidemiology and outcomes of COVID-19 cases managed by the first decentralised Victorian Public Health Unit (PHU) in the Barwon South-West (BSW) region in 2020.

METHODS

The Barwon Health team used a clinician-led, locally-based interprofessional model of care, combining clinical care and monitoring, contact tracing and public health measures.

RESULTS

From 7th March to 5th October 2020, 575 confirmed COVID-19 cases (82 in Wave 1; 493 in Wave 2) were identified in residents of the BSW region. Overall, 4.7% were admitted to local hospitals (0.7% to intensive care units) and 1.7% died. COVID-19 incidence in the region was 129 cases/100,000. Wave 2 in the region featured community transmission in high-risk settings and among culturally and linguistically diverse and mobile populations. Within 3 months of the initial local case in Wave 2, SARS-COV-2 was eliminated from the community.

CONCLUSIONS

A local interprofessional model of care was key to the containment of community transmission and complex outbreaks with the elimination of COVID-19 in the community.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

Key successes and learnings from the BSW PHU contributed to the improvement of statewide systems and responses and provided an impetus for the implementation of a decentralised public health model for Victoria.