Two new cases in Swan Hill LGA
VICTORIA's Department of Health has reported two positive cases of COVID-19 on Friday.
There are now 16 active cases in the community, including one who lives in Robinvale.
One of the cases was infected with the virus in Melbourne and remains in hotel quarantine.
"Significant" increase of positive COVID cases in Indigenous community
MALLEE District Aboriginal Services (MDAS) has confirmed a "significant" increase in the number of Indigenous people testing positive for COVID-19 in Swan Hill.
There are 14 active cases of COVID in the Swan Hill local government area.
MDAS Swan Hill and Kerang genera manager Samantha Brennan said it was a "matter of concern" that children under 12 were testing positive.
She said MDAS' Swan Hill office was not an exposure site.
"There are no new active cases in Kerang, but we are watching the situation closely and reaching out to Kerang community to be safe, and to get vaccinated," Ms Brennan said.
MDAS Swan Hill will hold a walk-in vaccination clinic today, Friday, October 14
Walk-in vaccination is available for Koori community only. ATSI community members do not have to book an appointment to have their COVID-19 vaccination at MDAS Swan Hill – they can walk in,
and their vaccination will be prioritised.
Ms Brennan said the only way to protect the vulnerable from COVID was for adults around them to get vaccinated.
"Stopping the spread of COVID-19 depends on the actions of every one of us," she said.
"If you are infected, isolate, if you are not infected, vaccinate.
"If you don't need to be out and about in the community, stay home.
"If you have been out and about in the community and in contact with anyone who might have been exposed to COVID-19, get tested, even if you don't have symptoms.
"If you have any COVID-19 symptoms at all, get tested.
"If you have not been vaccinated, come to our MDAS clinic and Aboriginal community members will be prioritised."
Ms Brennan urged people to support others who need to isolate by showing "love and compassion".
"This virus isn't something that people spread intentionally; it is something that happens and sometimes people are unaware they are spreading it to others," she said.
"Let's show support and kindness rather than discriminating and pushing our mob away."
If you don't have anywhere to self-isolate, call MDAS on 5032 8600 or 1800 183 593
For information, support and food parcels, contact MDAS Swan Hill 5032 8600 or Kerang 5412 6004.
Testing is available through the drive-through testing clinic on McCallum Street.
MDAS said it was urgently sourcing rapid testing resources and would make this available for Koori community.
Four new positive COVID cases
ANOTHER four new COVID-19 cases have been detected in the Swan Hill LGA on Thursday.
There are now 14 active cases.
Victoria's COVID Commander Jeroen Weimar said the cases in the north-west of the state were linked and involved agricultural workers.
He also said it was too early to call whether Mildura will come out of lockdown tomorrow.
"We'll obviously watch the data there over the next 24 hours," he said.
"What we are seeing in Mildura there's some vulnerability around certain parts of the community where we are seeing lower levels of vaccine uptake but there is a lot of work being done by local players to increase that.
"We are seeing a lot of connected social movements in a younger age cohort and we are seeing linkages between Robinvale and Swan Hill."
Mr Weimar praised the region's health teams at Thursday's press conference following his visit to Sunraysia and Swan Hill earlier this week.
"I'd like to give a particular shout out to the teams at MDAS, MVAT who are supporting their community members who are living with COVID [as well as the] teams at Mildura Base Hospital and Swan Hill hospital," he said.
Hairdresser an exposure site
SWAN Hill hairdressing salon Clikk Hair Design by Stacey has been listed as Tier 1 exposure site.
A COVID positive case attended the store at 137 Campbell Street on October 4 between 10am and 4.30pm.
Anyone who has visited this location during these times must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days from the exposure.
Gannawarra outbreak subsides
THERE is just one active case of COVID in the Gannawarra Shire.
There were seven active cases at the height of the shire's latest outbreak, between September 28 and October 4.
Testing clinic closing later
THE drive-through testing clinic, located on McCallum Steet, will be open until 7pm today.
From tomorrow (October 14), there will be two testing stations open from 9am until 4.30pm.
"Please be patient and expect longer than usual wait times, whilst the opening of the two stations should move a little quicker, we still want to prepare our community for a wait," Swan Hill District Health said in a statement.
"We suggest packing things like snacks and water, particularly if you are waiting with children.
"Thank you to the community for your patience and for coming forward to get tested."
Eight new positive cases in Swan Hill LGA
EIGHT new positive COVID cases in the Swan Hill local government area have been identified in the past 24 hours.
There are now nine positive cases in the LGA, with at least one residing in Robinvale.
A Swan Hill District Health (SHDH) spokesperson said all were currently under SHDH at-home care.
It’s understood the outbreak is contained within three households.
Contact tracing is still underway and at this stage, no exposure sites have been listed.
"The SHDH drive-through testing clinic located on McCallum Street is open daily from 9am, we understand there is an increased demand for the testing clinic so please be patient with us whilst we work to improve our testing capacity, stay tuned for further updates in relation to this on our Facebook page," they said.
"Our message remains the same - maintain a social distance, wear your mask correctly, and get vaccinated to help us to better protect you and our local community."
Swan Hill Primary School was forced to close on Wednesday after being exposed by a positive case.
Any exposure sites will be updated at www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/case-alerts-public-exposuresites.