Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has apologised to members of the state's Afghan community after his comments at a recent coronavirus briefing left them feeling singled out.
"I know that members of the Afghan community might have felt singled out by statements I made recently," he told reporters.The chief health officer said he had been reflecting on his experience of working with diverse communities internationally, and"the fact that there really is a universal human experience".
“We confirm that government and health authorities have not confirmed the ethnicity of the source of the recent spark nor do they collect such empirical data,” spokeswoman Zahida Popal said.Ms Popal called on health authorities to be more cautious in their language while reporting on the pandemic “so that the media does not, in turn, manipulate and sensationalise their statements to pedal their own rhetoric”.
During the curfew, people in Melbourne can only leave their house for work, and essential health, care or safety reasons.
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