A butcher at the centre of Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre outbreak had to undergo two deep cleans after the first did not meet Department of Health standards.
The Butcher Club owner Peter Robinson told NCA NewsWire surfaces were left unclean after Spotless conducted a deep clean on September 29, following the store manager testing positive for coronavirus a day prior.
“The process is that (the Department of Health and Human Services) then comes out once we’re open and do an inspection, and off the back of that inspection they weren’t happy with the deep clean Spotless had done,” he said.
“There was a piece of sticky label on a surface and a small amount of blue tack on another surface, which demonstrated they hadn’t cleaned to the level they required.”
The DHHS said it ordered a second deep clean of the site after officers found items had not been routinely cleaned such as whiteboard surfaces.
“A deep clean was performed of The Butcher Club store and communal facilities at Chadstone Shopping Centre on 29 September,” a spokesperson said.
“Where the outbreak squad has engaged with a facility or business, it is standard practice to provide an assessment of cleaning.
“An outbreak squad review the following day found further improvements could be made and a repeat clean was completed on 1 October.”
The Chadstone cluster has grown to 31 cases in a little more than a week, with eight staff members of The Butcher Club, 11 family and close contacts and four customers all testing positive for COVID-19.
Victoria chief health officer professor Brett Sutton revealed a relative of an infected staff member then brought the virus to regional Victoria after travelling 60km north of the city to Kilmore and dining at a cafe.
Two people at the cafe have since tested positive.
Spotless – which is a contractor of the Chadstone Shopping Centre – confirmed it had needed to repeat a deep clean of The Butcher Club following a DHHS inspection.
“In relation to The Butcher’s Club at the Chadstone Shopping Centre, on 29 September, Spotless responded to an urgent request for a deep clean,” a spokesperson said.
“On 1 October, following the outcome of a DHHS inspection, it repeated the deep clean that same day and the store reopened.”
When questioned if centre management was confident in continuing with Spotless to conduct future deep cleaning services Chadstone centre manager Michael Whitehead said: “We have been rigorous in our commitment to cleaning, hygiene and sanitising our centre since COVID-19 first emerged earlier this year and this will continue for the foreseeable future.”
“We’re continuing to support the retailer teams and businesses who’ve been directly impacted by recent cases as we know this is a difficult event for everyone to navigate.
“The DHHS outbreak squad has visited Chadstone three times during the past week, and is working with our team and our retailers’ teams on any new procedures or measures to be enacted as they evolve.”
The Chadstone cluster started with a household outbreak in Frankston, where one of the nine people living at the premises was a cleaner at The Butcher Club and went to work while she was infectious.
Mr Robinson said WorkSafe officers had since visited all 22 of his stores across Melbourne.
“She should’ve been self-isolating, we are absolutely aware of that and that was the wrong thing to do,” he said.
“In fresh food we’re a fair way down the track with food safety, we’re compliant anyway – we couldn’t have done anything different in this situation because the system relies on people being honest.”
Mr Robinson said all nine workers at the Chadstone store had gone into isolation, with two staff members returning to work after being cleared of the virus.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the cluster was “under control”, but again implored Victorians to stay home if they were feeling even the mildest of symptoms.
“They’ve (the public health team) done a great job in very rapid response, very localised response,” he said.
“This has been very well handled, but at the same time, it just speaks to how wildly infectious it is that it can run, even when it’s well handled, you can finish up with 30-plus cases.”
The Butcher Club’s 53-year-old Chadstone store manager was on Tuesday rushed to ICU for a second time after testing positive on September 28.
“We’ve had a bit of a hiccup with the manager – he was taken to hospital to ICU in an ambulance the first time around just after he tested positive but had come good, but he’s taken a turn for the worse yesterday,” Mr Robinson said.
“Doctors were thinking about putting him in an induced coma, but they’re happy with his progress now.
“I spoke with him this morning and he seemed pretty upbeat. He has a nurse by his side 24/7 – the hospital staff have done an incredible job.”
Mr Robinson said the store manager would remain in ICU at Dandenong Hospital for the next two days and in care for another seven days.
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