COVID highlights of the week

 1.  13 Donuts Day in VIC

Victoria has now recorded 13 consecutive days with no new COVID-19 cases in the community and no new cases in hotel quarantine. Testing numbers in the state remain high, with over 20-thousand people receiving results since Wednesday. There are now just three active cases in the state. 

Meanwhile, the Victorian Government’s Melbourne travel vouchers initiative will launch online on Friday. Victorians can head to the ‘Melbourne Travel Voucher Scheme’ website to apply for 200 dollar vouchers.

2.  ACT cluster emerged

A new cluster of COVID-19 cases has emerged in the Australian Capital Territory, but they are all returned travellers in hotel quarantine. Health authorities in Canberra say they anticipate more cases, given others had been exposed to the infected people during their travels.

The five cases were among 146 people who travelled on the Singapore Airlines flight, and close contacts of the new cases had already been told they would have an extended stay in quarantine.

ACT Health said hotel staff were following strict rules around the wearing of protective clothing and infection control processes. They are also participating in the Safeguarding Canberrans program, which includes daily symptom screening and regular COVID-19 testing.

3. Cairns Hospital overloaded

Cairns Hospital is currently treating the mine-workers who returned from the Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea last week. But Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service executive director Doctor Don Mackie said the six patients take up a lot of resources and extra space.

They require specialised nursing and dedicated areas to reduce the potential for spreading of the virus. He said extraordinary pressure had been put on health staff over the weekend after a high number of non-COVID-19 patients were admitted to the hospital. Following the emergence of these cases, Ok Tedi Mining has now stopped flights into Cairns.

4.  Workers are more important?

The Australian Council of Trade Unions made a submission to the Australian Government on 10 March regarding the COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan. The ACTU wants vaccinations to be prioritised for people based on their jobs. 

Currently, after the established priority groups receive the vaccine, it will be available to the general population in an order mostly based on age. But unions want priority to be given to occupations they have identified as being important in the community and which have a higher risk of being infected. Some of the workers they outline are shop assistants, teachers and airport security, who must be protected if there is another outbreak.

5.  Half price flight tickets

The Federal Government has announced a new 1.2-billion-dollar support initiative for the struggling tourism industry. Ticket prices will halve this year for domestic flights to areas that have been hit the hardest by border closures and travel restrictions due to the pandemic.

Between April and July, a 50 per cent discount will apply for flights to and from 13 areas in Australia that rely heavily on international travellers. Some of the locations include the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays, Alice Springs, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie, Broome, Avalon, Merimbula and Kangaroo Island. Further details are still being planned by the government, but the flights will be available for sale online from April 1.