Covid Victoria: 514 new cases; Ballarat re-enters lockdown - Herald Sun

Another record case spike in Victoria’s latest Covid outbreak has been announced. It comes as frustrated Ballarat residents woke to another lockdown on Thursday.

Victoria has recorded 514 new cases as its second-largest regional city woke to a fresh lockdown on Thursday morning.

At least 68.3 per cent of Victorians aged over 15 had received their first jab, while 41.9 per cent are fully vaccinated. More than 41,700 doses were administered on Wednesday.

Of the latest infections, 148 are linked to existing outbreaks.

It comes as Ballarat was again plunged into lockdown, amid fears it could become a Covid hotspot, as restrictions in Shepparton ease.

Confused locals have questioned the government’s decision to lock down the city over four cases, while Geelong – which has more than a dozen infections – is free.

However, a busy Geelong supermarket has been named a tier one infection site, with anyone who shopped at Coles in Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre between 7.30am and 10am on September 9 forced to get tested and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result.

A worker from Cotton On’s North Geelong head office has also tested positive to Covid.

Two new cases emerged in Ballarat on Wednesday but authorities are bracing for more with wastewater detections indicating someone in the area was carrying the virus as long ago as September 8.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday said the localised lockdown was needed to stop the outbreak ballooning, and protect the rest of regional Victoria.

“Ballarat is not a community that is shut off from everybody else. People move to different parts of regional Victoria, they move to Melbourne, and those patterns of movement would mean the virus would hitch a ride, and potentially, if unchecked, spread right across regional Victoria,” he said.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said: “It’s been over a week of likely transmission within the Ballarat community so there are likely to be more cases.”

Like Melburnians, Ballarat residents will have just five reasons to leave home – to shop for essentials, authorised work and study, caregiving, exercise and to get vaccinated.

However, the controversial curfew has not been imposed on the regional city.

Testing queues quickly formed in Ballarat with some residents forced to wait six hours to be swabbed.

“There’s not enough (testing sites),” Kerrie Gunsser said.

“I have been to two exposure sites in recent days, my elderly father is at home and I am waiting all this time to get tested to make sure I don’t make him sick.”

It was again last drinks for local pubs, with Bunch of Grapes Hotel staffer Katie Randall revealing “struggling” staff would again be without an income.

“This is not fair at all, we have just got out of lockdown and now we have to go back to takeaway,” she said.

Liberal Ripon MP Louise Staley said: “Ballarat shouldn’t be shut down. We need to learn to live with Covid cases.”

There were 61 active cases in regional Victoria on Wednesday, the majority of which were in Shepparton but quarantining under strict isolation protocols.

“There are still cases in Shepparton but they’ve been in iso, they’ve been through their day 13 testing,” Mr Andrews said.

He announced that hospitality venues and retailers could reopen and some students head back to school.

RESTRICTIONS SET TO EASE WHEN VIC HITS VAX RATE

Groups of up to five Melburnians should be allowed to play sport and meet outdoors when the state hits its 70 per cent first-dose target, the Victorian Opposition says.

Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce a minor easing of restrictions when Victoria hits the vaccination milestone, likely on Thursday.

Government ministers and health officials were discussing potential changes on Wednesday night and were due to meet again this morning.

It is understood a plan to expand the 5km travel limit to 10km and increase exercise time to three hours will be ­implemented.

Some government officials have also pushed to lift the controversial curfew, while others want social bubbles that would allow small outdoor gatherings.

Read the full story here.

PROTESTERS’ PLAN TO DEFY CITY BARRICADE

Police will shut down Melbourne’s public transport and blockade the city in an unprecedented bid to foil violent anti-lockdown protesters.

Trains, trams and buses into the CBD will be halted between 8am and 2pm on Saturday to stop a anti-lockdown rally expected to draw thousands of people.

In what will be Victoria Police’s biggest operation in 20 years, barricades, traffic blocks and roving police patrols will also surround the CBD to lock out protesters, who the already plotting to sneak in.

“This is the biggest game in town for us, to stop this occurring,” Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said.

Read the full story here.

QUERIES ON COVID DEATH

Questions remain over the Covid death of a man in his 20s whose family say had a serious lung condition and had previously had a heart attack.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said the man’s death had not yet been directly linked to Covid but the virus was an “underlying diagnosis”.

“Anyone who dies (from Covid) will have a diagnosis of cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest or cardio-respiratory arrest,” Professor Sutton said.

“We’ve not classified it as anything, the coroner will make their determination. But it’s a positive Covid case and we need to manage it as such.”

It comes as the man’s family said they had been informed by the coroner his cause of death was cardiac arrest but later received “revised reports” that attributed the virus as the official cause of death.

JAB DEADLINE LOOMS

Almost 4000 Victorian aged-care workers are yet to receive a Covid-19 jab before a mandate comes into force on Friday.

At least 94.7 per cent of employees have already had one dose but about 3800 remain unvaccinated.

They now have one day to show they have either a medical exemption, or a vaccine appointment booked before October 1.

If they don’t, workers will be stood down.

Under the new health orders, those yet to be inoculated will be required to wear protective equipment including a surgical mask and face shield.

BID TO STOP KELLY TEXTS

Australia’s medical regulator has accused Craig Kelly of breaching copyright and demanded the rogue MP stop sending unsolicited “misleading” texts about Covid-19 vaccine.

Lawyers for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) have written to Mr Kelly, who is leader of the United Australia Party founded by billionaire Clive Palmer, demanding an end to the unsolicited texts.

Messages containing links the UAP claim contains information from the TGA’s own adverse event reports about the vaccines have been sent to millions of Australians in recent weeks.

In a statement the TGA said their lawyers alleged the UAP texts “breached copyright”. It says the extracts removed “important information”.

SYNAGOGUE TO PROVIDE ‘SUPPORT SERVICES’

A synagogue at the centre of a police investigation has been given the green light to provide “community support services” ahead of the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

But the facility – which was hit with a prohibition notice by the Department of Health following a violent stand off last week – must not gather for worship or prayer.

The Herald Sun has been told the venue could now open to provide limited support services within the public health directions because it had now implemented Covid-safe protocols and practices.

Read the full story here.

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2021-09-15 23:02:06Z
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