Weekly covid news at a glance

 1.  Delta virus is spreading nationwide

All states and territories are now on high alert for a national outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta strain. Australian Medical Association Vice-president Dr Chris Moy said that states and territories must go hard on restrictions early to prevent the two main outbreaks from spreading, calling it a cross-country seeding event.

Sydney’s Bondi cluster grew by 30 cases on Sunday, the first day of lockdown for the greater Sydney area. The cluster has also made its way to Western Australia, with the state’s health minister announcing on Sunday that a woman who had travelled from Sydney had returned a positive result, sparking new restrictions for the state.

In the Northern Territory a decision was made to head into a snap 48-hour lockdown after four cases emerged there on Sunday, not linked to the Bondi cluster however, but an older case from Queensland. Queensland reported a total of three new locally acquired cases overnight and is set to enforce restrictions as a result, including mandatory mask wearing in the South East Queensland region. South Australian Premier Steven Marshall made the decision to extend its border closure to all states and territories except for Tasmania and Victoria.

2.  Victoria covid under control so far

Victoria has recorded no new community transmitted cases of COVID-19, and two returned traveller cases, who are in hotel quarantine. There are currently a total of 45 active cases in the state.

Several exposure sites have been listed for Victoria after a flight attendant infected with COVID-19 had a stopover in on Friday. The woman flew into Melbourne on Virgin Flight VA334 from Brisbane on Friday, spending the night at the Holiday Inn Express Southbank, where she remained in isolation before taking a Sydney flight on Sunday. The hotel in Southbank has now been added to Victoria’s list of exposure sites.

More than 17 and a half-thousand test results were received in the last 24 hours, and more than 14-thousand vaccines were administered. For Victoria, over one million vaccination doses have now been administered through the Victorian government centres, with an additional one million through the Commonwealth Government-support system, bringing the total vaccinations administered state-wide to over TWO million.

3.  Get your second dose please

Experts are urging those who are eligible to get vaccinated and ensure they receive their second doses as Australia faces outbreaks in multiple states. 

More than seven million vaccinations have been administered across the country to date according to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, with over 28 per cent of eligible Australians now having received first doses. 

However, Vice President of the Australian Medical Association Dr Chris Moy believes that attitudes toward vaccination have become ‘insular’. He has emphasised that people must view the vaccination rollout as a community effort. 

4.  New quarantine facility 

The Federal Government has announced it will build a quarantine facility on Commonwealth land at Mickleham, north of Melbourne.

The facility was the preferred one of two originally proposed by the Victorian Government, which has budgeted $15 million to design it.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has written to Victoria’s Acting Premier, James Merlino, to advise him of the plan.

The facility will reportedly have an initial capacity of 1000 beds, but will open once the first 500 beds are available for use to speed up the quarantine housing process.

5.  Multicultural festivals funding

The Victorian government has announced $1.45 million in funding for 252 multicultural festivals and events to be held between July and December 2021.

There is also an additional $1.1 million for the Multicultural Festivals and Events Program in the state budget to cater to increased demand over the next 12 months. The funding will support events like the 2021 African Music and Cultural Festival, the Sunshine Lantern Festival, the Humans in Geelong Expo and the Murga Madre’s South American Winter Celebration.

Festivals funded include the Ballarat Nuer Community Cultural Festival, the Hispanic Latin American Festival, the Williamstown Macedonian Cultural Festival, the Victoria Street Moon Lantern Festival, the Bastille Day French Festival, the Sunraysia Multicultural Festival and the Melbourne Pasifika Festival.

6.  Extra support to African community

Victorian students and workers of African heritage will now receive extra support in achieving their goals as part of the Victorian African Communities Action Plan.

The government has announced an additional 1.2-million-dollar support package for 13 Homework Clubs across Victoria and the establishment of the Employment Brokers Initiative with almost 1 million dollars in funding. Homework Clubs allow for one-on-one support, goal setting and mentoring. 

Eight School Community Liaison Officers will soon be supporting the more than 600 students who have enrolled in the program since its launch in June 2020. Eight organisations including the Somali Women’s Development Association, Junubi Wyndham and AfriAusCare will share in the funding to host African Employment Brokers in partnership with Jobs Victoria Employment Network providers.